Charleston rallies to dump Chaffee at Senior Babe Ruth state tourney

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee suffered a major blow Saturday during the Senior Babe Ruth state baseball tournament.

The Squids insist they are far from discouraged since they still are just one win away from a berth in the Midwest Plains Regional.

"Our heads are still up," Josh Overbey said. "We're ready to go."

The Charleston Fighting Squirrels rallied from a 10-3 fifth-inning deficit to stun host Chaffee 11-10 in eight innings in the winners bracket final of the double-elimination event.

The state runner-up also qualifies if the Squirrels win the state title because Charleston is hosting the Midwest Plains Regional beginning Thursday.

Charleston baserunner Nathan Rodgers runs into a tag by Chaffee catcher Cody Payne at home plate during the first inning of Saturday's Senior Babe Ruth state tournament in Chaffee, Mo. Rodgers was called out on the play. (Fred Lynch)

Chaffee and Boonville play at 2 p.m. today in the losers bracket final of the seven-team tournament.

The winner plays Charleston at 5 p.m. and would need a victory to force Monday's if-necessary title contest.

But that almost would be an afterthought. Whoever wins today's losers bracket final is assured a regional berth because that squad at worst would finish second behind Charleston.

"I told them we've got one baseball game to win and we're going to the regional," Chaffee coach Aaron Horrell said.

Horrell found it hard to blame his players after Saturday's gut-wrenching defeat because Charleston mostly earned the victory.

Chaffee starter Alex Davie delivers to a Charleston batter during the first inning Saturday.

The hard-hitting Squirrels (21-17) were relentless at the plate and Chaffee (31-9) could not hold down those bats for the entire game.

"I think we got a little stagnant at the plate, but the kids didn't celebrate early," Horrell said. "We blew a big lead, but we didn't blow the game.

"Charleston, one through nine, can tear the cover off the ball. We used our best pitchers. They hit all of them. We played well enough to win. Charleston is just a good hitting team."

Chaffee had only one error, that coming on a throw that allowed a runner to take an extra base. All 11 Charleston runs were earned.

"They won it," Overbey said. "We played good enough to win. They just smashed the ball."

The Squirrels had eight of their 16 hits over the final three innings of regulation. They scored seven runs in those frames.

"We've got some guys who can swing the bats," said Charleston coach Michael Minner, a Cape Girardeau native who graduated from Central High School in 1998. "We get down, we don't really sweat it."

That has been evident so far in the state tournament. The Squirrels have trailed in all three of their games only to come back and win, although Saturday's 10-3 deficit was their biggest.

"It was an intense game," said Josh Boese, a Scott County Central High School product who was the winning pitcher and also provided the game-ending hit. "We never gave up. We battled."

Charleston, which had its string of three consecutive state titles ended by Jackson last year, began its big comeback with two outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jonathon Boone doubled and Ethan Browning's two-run homer made it 10-5. The blow also ended the day of pitching for Chaffee starter Alex Davie, who allowed five runs and nine hits.

"That kind of got us going," Minner said.

Charleston got three sixth-inning runs off Connor Scott, the winning pitcher in Chaffee's first two tournament games.

The Squirrels tied it in the seventh. Andrew Dooley hit leadoff batter Bryan Freed -- another Scott County Central product -- and Marshall Stallings doubled with one out.

Cody Payne went from behind the plate to become Chaffee's fourth pitcher. Seth Childers delivered a two-RBI single to make it 10-10 and force extra innings. Both runs were charged to Dooley.

Payne walked Nathan Rodgers leading off the bottom of the eighth. Payne then issued one-out walks to Browning and Danny McKinney.

A fly ball to short right field moved Chaffee within an out of sending the contest to the ninth inning.

But Boese, who came on to pitch the top of the eighth, foiled that plan in his lone plate appearance.

Boese's line drive to right field barely got over second baseman Alex Crowe as pinch-runner Dalton Golightly eased home with the winning run.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play. I knew a hit would win the game," Boese said. "The second baseman jumped. ... It was inches over his glove."

Boese's perfect eighth inning of pitching netted him the victory.

Another area product was crucial in a relief role.

Advance High School's Ryan Moses allowed two runs, one earned, over three innings to keep Charleston close. He fired off scoreless sixth and seventh innings.

Moses' best work came in the seventh when Chaffee had a golden opportunity to expand its 10-8 lead.

The Squids loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk, error and single but came away empty after a force out at home and a ground ball to Moses that started a 1-2-3 double play.

"That inning, I'm not going to lie, I got a little scared. I got a little wild." Moses said. "He [Minner] came in and chewed me out."

Stallings led Charleston with four hits, while Rodgers had three. Browning, who homered, drove in four runs. Childers also homered and delivered three RBIs.

Overbey paced Chaffee with three hits and two RBIs. Jared Walker had two hits and two RBIs. Scott Foster and Blake Keasler added two hits apiece for the Squids.

Jackson's bid for a repeat state title ended Saturday with a 12-4 loss to New Madrid. That came after Friday's eight-inning defeat to Chaffee.

Jackson (23-15) went 1-2 in the tournament.