Chaffee seniors earn final home game with C2 Sectional win

The prospects of the Chaffee Red Devils returning to the Class 2 quarterfinals were all but assured after a single swing of the bat of senior Levi McKinnie.

With their 4-0 win over the Bismarck Indians in the sectional round of the Class 2 state tournament on Monday, May 20, in Bismarck, Mo., the Red Devils have earned themselves one more home game this season.

To the eight seniors and head coach Aaron Horrell, Wednesday’s upcoming home game is a gift.

“I've been with these kids since they were in seventh grade,” Horrell said. “The connection I have with them, it's gonna hurt when it's over, and so really to me, my satisfaction in the victories is just getting those guaranteed couple more days with these kids because they mean the world to me.”

McKinnie’s fifth home run of the season led off a three-run third inning that kept the Red Devils ahead throughout the game.

“I try to let our kids play with confidence,” Horrell said. “Obviously it'd be nice to start an inning with a base runner but we've got a really good hitter at the plate and if we can get a cheap get-me-over fastball, we want to put our kid in a good spot to be aggressive and he did that.”

Chaffee senior Levi McKinnie hits a home run in the third inning of a Class 2 Sectional game against Bismarck on Monday, May 20, Bismarck, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

After Eli Glueck doubled and Leyton Hanback reached on an error, Easton Fowler drove them both home with a two-run single. Fowler led the Red Devils with two hits and two RBIs. Fowler returned from injury midway through the season and is batting .227 in 22 at-bats through seven games with five RBI.

“When he plays, it's another person that the other team has to worry about in the lineup,” Horrell said. “He’s really has been a big boost for us defensively at shortstop so we're glad to have him back. He was an All-State player last year and we just expect big things from him when he's in the lineup.”

McKinnie started the game and struck out the side in the first inning. He then moved to catcher and Glueck came in to pitch the majority of the game. When there was a jam in the fifth inning, McKinnie switched back to the mound and got his fourth punch out to end the frame. To make this diamond juggle work, Hanback would move from third base to catcher with McKinnie on the mound with Glueck covering the hot corner.

It’s not a strategy that Horrell employs often. It worked for him last year against Crystal City in the sectional round. It was his way of having McKinnie ready for the quarterfinals but utilizing his pitching prowess to get them there.

“If we want a guy to be able to pitch Wednesday, he had to be at 45 [pitches] or less today,” Horrell said. “We knew we were going to use him in some spots but we knew obviously in the first inning we're guaranteed that he's going to face the top of the order. So I wanted to make sure that one time through the top of the order we had him on the mound and then we knew Glueck would give us a chance.”

McKinnie allowed one hit with four strikeouts in 1.1 innings, while Glueck pitched 5.2 scoreless innings allowing only three hits and four walks with six strikeouts. Glueck has pitched in 12 games this season but started two of them, and is 5-0 and a save with a 1.16 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched.

“Glueck has been really good all year,” Horrell said.

Chaffee will host Portageville on Wednesday with a trip to the semifinals on the line. A win for Portageville will mean its third straight final four appearance and 30-win season. Both teams were in the final four last year, but with the Bulldogs moving down from Class 3 to Class 2, something will have to give in this epic matchup.

“We're not going to be intimidated by the moment,” Horrell said. “We've played really good teams this year, we've shown up in those spots, so I'm going to expect our kids to play with confidence and go out and play loose and play free and see where we stack up.”