CHAFFEE WINS TOURNEY, THEN CAPE GETS SPLIT

Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy and Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons exchanged thrilling American Legion baseball victories Wednesday night -- but only Chaffee was able to take home the big hardware.

The area rivals hooked up in a District 14 doubleheader at Capaha Field. Normally, both games would have been seven-inning affairs.

But, since the teams had been slated to meet last month in the championship game of the Capaha Classic Tournament hosted by Cape -- only to see the game wiped out by rain -- the first contest Wednesday served as the title game of the tourney. And that matchup was scheduled for nine innings.

As it turned out, the teams played one extra frame. Chaffee squeezed across a run in the top of the 10th inning to prevail 4-3 and claim the first-place tournament trophy.

Cape managed to salvage a split in the nightcap with a 6-5 victory as the host squad scored a run in the bottom of the seventh.

"We would have rather won the first game, but after losing that one, it's nice to get the split," said Cape manager Ron Michel.

Chaffee is now 22-13 overall and 15-7 in District 14 play. Cape, closing out its home schedule, is 19-20 overall and 11-10 in the district.

Both games, if not exactly well-played, were certainly exciting.

Chaffee had only 11 hits in the two games and Cape managed just 10. Ford & Sons committed six errors while Chaffee had five.

But both teams got stellar pitching performances.

Cape's Garrett Broshuis did not figure into the first-game decision. He allowed five hits and just one earned run in nine innings. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out 12 and walked one.

Chaffee first-game starter Brian Obermann worked 7 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and one earned run. Tommy Stidham wound up getting the victory with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. He allowed an unearned run.

After Cape had rallied late to tie, Chaffee scored an unearned run in the top of the 10th off Cape reliever Dustin Glastetter, who got the loss. Stidham singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error.

Glastetter came back for the win in the second game. He allowed five hits and four earned runs while fanning 10 and walking two.

Josh Eftink was the hard-luck loser, allowing just three hits while fanning eight and walking three.

Cape looked out of it, trailing 4-1 with two outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the sixth. But after a hit batter and two walks, pinch-hitter Tommy Wencewicz drilled a three-run, game-tying triple and he then scored on a wild pitch.

Chaffee tied it in the top of the seventh on a balk. But Cape won it in the bottom of the frame when Richard Harrison tripled with one out and scored on an infield hit by Nathan Essner.

Ford & Sons closes out its regular-season schedule tonight at Charleston. Both squads will compete in the District 14 Tournament in Jackson next week.