Chaffee rides offense past Bell City

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Joshua Hendrix credited patience for his team's offensive success Friday.

Chaffee knocked around Bell City for a 16-6 six-inning victory a day after suffering a loss to Scott City.

The Red Devils managed one hit against Scott City's hard-throwing left-hander Skylar Cobb on Thursday. They responded by banging out 13 hits against Bell City's Josh Overbey and Eddie Dembowski on Friday.

"Cobb threw the ball pretty good," Hendrix said. "Had to slow down a little bit today, kind of wait on the ball. Just keep your weight back. Then the second pitcher came in [Dembowski] and you really had to do that."

Chaffee (5-6) blew open a tied game with six runs in the fifth and another five in the sixth to end the game early. The Red Devils capitalized on three Bell City errors in the fifth to take control.

Bell City's Leonard Schaefer turns to try to tag Chaffee baserunner Alex Davie at second base during the fifth inning Friday in Chaffee, Mo. Davie was safe on the play for a double. (KRISTIN EBERTS)

"It's just coach telling us we got to get 21 tough outs in the game," Chaffee sophomore Trevor Cannon said. "If we're doing that, it means we're hustling and putting pressure on them. If the shortstop's looking at the guy running hard down the baseline, he's thinking I got to get it quick and not thinking staying down and making a normal throw."

The Cubs finished with six errors, a trend that bothered Bell City coach Matt Asher.

"We'll play a game and won't make an error and make diving plays," he said. "The next game we'll kick it around big time. It's just inconsistent."

Five of the six runs in the fifth inning were unearned.

"We're just not very mentally tough right now," Asher said. "If you're not mentally tough after you make an error, then it just compounds."

Chaffee's Joshua Hendrix loses control of the ball as Bell City's Jason Hess hustles safely to second during the fourth inning of a game in Chaffee, Mo., on Friday, April 16, 2010. Chaffee won 16-6. (KRISTIN EBERTS)

Hendrix started the fifth with a single to center and capped the scoring by knocking in a pair with a single past the first baseman during his second at-bat of the inning.

Bell City got one back in the sixth by taking advantage of two Chaffee errors, but the Red Devils ended the game with a two-out rally in the sixth. Dembowski retired the first two batters he faced before the next seven batters reached safely.

"You never know when you can get a big rally going," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "A couple times today they made a miscue, but part of that is we're hustling and trying to put as much pressure on the defense as we can. They got two quick outs there in the sixth and we did that all with two outs, so that was nice to see."

Dustin Johnson delivered a two-run single and Cannon ended the game with a two-run single to center field. Jason Cicardi and Hendrix also had run-scoring singles in the sixth.

"Coach has been saying all year that some day we're going to have to do it with two outs," Henson said. "Today was the day."

Chaffee's Andrew Dooley makes a catch in center field during the third inning of Friday's game.

Chaffee opened a 3-0 lead after one inning but Bell City answered with four runs in the top of the second. Jeff Long delivered a two-run double to cap the Cubs' scoring in the inning. Chaffee retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning on run-scoring singles by Alex Crowe and Cannon. Bell City evened the score with an RBI double by Jason Hess in the fourth before Chaffee's offense ended the game early with big fifth and sixth innings.

Bell City 040 101 -- 6 5 6

Chaffee 320 065 -- 16 13 3

WP -- Alex Davie. LP -- Josh Overbey. 2B -- Jeff Long (BC), Jason Hess (BC), Davie (C). Multiple hits -- Bell City: Long 2-4; Chaffee: Trevor Cannon 3-5, Joshua Hendrix 3-4, Daniel Dooley 2-4. Records -- Bell City 4-5, Chaffee 5-6.