Chaffee rips Charleston in first round of Senior Babe Ruth state tournament

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee was determined not to overlook the Charleston Woodpeckers in Thursday's Senior Babe Ruth state tournament opener.

The Squids already had beaten the Woodpeckers four times this season.

Host Chaffee made it five straight over the Woodpeckers with a 14-3 romp that keeps the Squids in the winners bracket of the seven-team, double-elimination event at Horman Field.

"You never take anybody lightly," Chaffee's Cody Payne said. "This is a good way to get our confidence up."

Chaffee, which improved to 30-8, will play Jackson at 7:30 p.m. today in the semifinals. The Charleston Squirrels, 4-3 winners over New Madrid, play Boonville at 5 p.m. today in the other semifinal. Boonville received a first-round bye through a random draw.

Chaffee's Connor Scott pitches against Charleston during the first inning of their game at the Senior Babe Ruth state tournament.

"We really came out strong," Chaffee's Alex Davie said. "It's a good win to start the tournament off."

Chaffee wasted little time jumping on the Woodpeckers, scoring a run in the top of the first inning and three more in the second. The Squids pounded out 15 hits, including two triples and two doubles.

"Our bats came around a little bit for us," said Chaffee coach Aaron Horrell, whose club had struggled some offensively late in the regular season. "It was good to see 14 runs tonight."

Payne led Chaffee's offense by going 4 for 5 with a double and two runs batted in.

Jared Walker went 3 for 4. He doubled and tripled while delivering two RBIs.

Nolan Urhahn also went 3 for 4, including a triple and two RBIs. Blake Keasler had two hits and Connor Scott added two RBIs.

"Our bats haven't been turned on very much the past few games," Payne said. "We finally turned it on tonight."

Chaffee used three pitchers, which allowed Horrell to save as many innings as possible for his staff.

Scott, who started and received credit for the win, allowed no hits and no runs over two innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Davie hurled the next three innings, giving up one run and two hits. He struck out six and walked four.

Scott Foster finished with two innings. He allowed three hits and two runs while striking out five and walking two.

The Squids' three hurlers combined for 14 strikeouts.

"I thought they all threw well and we were able to save our arms a little bit," Horrell said.

After Chaffee went ahead 1-0 in the first inning, Payne's two-run single highlighted the Squids' three-run second that made it 4-0.

Charleston got a third-inning run to pull within 4-1, but the Squids got two in the fourth to make it 6-1 and a five-run sixth blew open things at 11-1.

The Woodpeckers got their final two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Chaffee tacked on three more in the seventh to finish the rout.