Chaffee softball team falls to DeKalb in Class 1 semifinal

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- One of the attributes that Chaffee coach AJ Horn appreciates in his team was on display in the Red Devils' Class 1 semifinal game on Friday.

Chaffee's no-quit demeanor was evident when the Red Devils battled back from an early deficit, but they couldn't overcome it in a 7-5 loss to DeKalb at the Killian Softball Complex.

"We just kept telling them to keep playing," Horn said. "There's seven innings for a reason and you've got to play every one of them because if you don't people are going to beat you. We kept playing and I can't say enough for those kids for doing so."

The Red Devils, who were playing in a state final four for the first time in program history, fell behind 5-0 after 1 1/2 innings.

The Tigers got runners on with a one-out bunt single and a base hit up the middle. DeKalb's Mallory Dittemore drove in a run with a two-out single to center to make it 1-0.

In the top of the second, DeKalb's Laurel Krause led off the second with a double to right and scored on a two-out base hit to left by Morgan Parsons.

Parsons stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. A ground ball hit to third was misfielded by Julia Sutterfield, but not ruled an error, and Parsons scored to make it 3-0.

An RBI double and an RBI single made it 5-0 DeKalb.

"I think it was the second inning, we had two outs and they had a runner on third and we made an error," Horn said when asked about what defensive miscues stood out to him. "And then they scored three after that. That's the biggest play right there -- not of the whole game. ... That was a turning point because then we came right back up in our half and we scored three, and at that point we'd be winning the ballgame 3-2 if we make that play."

Madeline Hendrix and Carlie Milz hit back to back one-out singles. Hannah Seyer drove them both home with a two-out double to left.

Two pitches later Bridgette Swinford launched one to right center for an RBI double that cut it to 5-3.

DeKalb got a run back in the top of the third with two hits and an error at short.

The Tigers pushed the lead to 7-3 in the sixth. Parsons led off with a double, moved to third on a sac fly and scored on a pitch that slammed off the backstop and rolled back to home plate but neither catcher Hallie Bollinger nor pitcher Hannah Seyer could field it in time to get the out.

"Biggest challenge today was making those defensive plays behind our pitcher that we're supposed to make, and sometimes we didn't do that," Horn said. "And we needed those key hits. We didn't get those either. We got them a few times throughout the game but later in the game we didn't get the big key hits we needed, but that's the game of softball."

Chaffee cut it to 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Hendrix doubled, Milz drew a walk and Taylor Crites singled to load the bases.

Hendrix scored on a sac fly. A strikeout stranded the other two runners.

Bailey Wiseman got an infield single, moved up a base on an error and scored on a Burnett hit. A 5-3 double play ended it.

"It's tough to lose 7-5, especially in the state semifinals, but you can't be more than happy for our kids," Horn said. "They battled to be here. We're young, we play a hard schedule and we battled. We battled to get here and I can't say enough for our ladies. They didn't quit. We were down 7-4, 7-3 late in the game and we just kept battling. Some of the plays we should've made on defense we didn't make and those are costly every time, no matter what."