Chaffee upsets Van Buren in Class 1 District 1 softball championship

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Wednesday and Thursday, there was a batch up cupcakes waiting for the Van Buren Dawgs after their game. The Chaffee Lady Red Devils made sure that Thursday's cupcakes were sad cupcakes.

Van Buren struggled to solve the pitching of Chaffee's Carleigh Burnett, who allowed three hits and a walk with six strikeouts and carried Chaffee to a 2-0 win in the Class 1 District 1 Tournament championship game.

"She brought her A game. We've struggled all year. The biggest thing for her today is she threw strikes and limited her walks," Chaffee coach AJ Horn said. "Throughout the season, we were averaging five or six walks total. She hit her spots and our defense made plays behind her, and that is all you can ask for."

Bailey Wiseman scored both runs for the Red Devils (12-4), who ended Van Buren's season in the semifinals last year before losing to Naylor by a run in the championship.

She scored on a single by Julia Sutterfield in the first inning after walking and advancing to second on a wild pitch.

"I'm glad to see her graduate because she is a tough, tough out," Van Buren coach Terry Pennington said about Sutterfield.

In the sixth, Wiseman singled, stole second and scored on a two-out double by Sydney Walker.

"I don't know how she hit the pitch we threw up against the left-field fence, but good for her," Pennington said.

Chaffee's only other hit was a single in the seventh by Carlie Milz, who was thrown out stealing second.

Van Buren (22-4), which banged out 15 hits in a 7-2 win over Chaffee during the regular season, never had more than one hit in any inning. The Dawgs put only one runner in scoring position in the game, and that came in the third inning.

Logan Hayworth and Summer Shockley opened the third with a walk and a double.

Burnett got a groundout to the shortstop and then another grounder to third baseman Taylor Crites, who faked a throw to first, then spun and ran down Shockley, who was looking to score on the throw.

With runners on the corners and two outs, Burnett escaped on a pop fly to the second baseman.

"Today, we made the plays we were supposed to make and we didn't walk a lot of people and threw strikes and we had a few key big hits and we came out on top." Horn said.

The Red Devils will face District 2 champion Norwood (15-6) on Wednesday in sectional play.