HARRELL'S HOMER LIFTS CHAFFEE PAST CENTRAL

You didn't even need to see it.

The distinctive, acute piercing sound of a rawhide bullet squarely connecting with a metal club midway through an uppercut motion provided more than enough evidence that Chaffee senior catcher Jason Harrell had gotten all of it.

Harrell's two-run homer over the left-field fence in the top of the sixth inning helped lift the visiting Red Devils to a surprising 4-3 victory over Cape Girardeau Central in both teams' season openers Wednesday afternoon.

Central left fielder Mike Sullivan didn't even move as the ball landed midway between the fence and the parking lot well beyond left field.

The blast off Central pitcher Travis Klipfel gave Chaffee a 3-2 lead.

"I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it. I just didn't know how far," Harrell said. "It was a fastball about chest high."

Harrell, a four-year starter, reached base three times. He also singled and reached on an error.

Later in the sixth, Chaffee used back-to-back doubles by designated hitter Jeremy Vandeven and shortstop Matt Stroup to add another run and push the score to 4-2.

Central cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom half of the sixth when pinch hitter Justin Welker reached on an error and later scored on a deep RBI double by Sullivan. Sullivan and first baseman Mark Fisher each had a single and a double for the Tigers.

The Tigers didn't threaten in the seventh.

"The thing that hurt us is that we had chances that we didn't capitalize on," Central coach Steve Williams said. "In the middle innings, we had a chance to bust things open a little bit."

The Tigers, who scored one run in the second, third and sixth innings, lost a runner at the plate in the sixth when Sullivan attempted to score on a single off the glove of the shortstop.

Chaffee also lost a runner at the plate on an interference call.

The Red Devils were able to claim the win despite five errors, including three coming in the third.

But Chaffee's Tommy Stidham was masterful in pitching around those mistakes for the complete game.

Stidham pitched ahead in the count to nearly every batter. He allowed eight hits, three of which came on the infield. He walked two and struck out six.

"That kid's a gamer," Chaffee coach Bruce Qualls said of the junior who is starting for the third year. "He went out there and got the job done."

"Along with Sikeston and Jackson, they're the biggest school we play. They're one of the teams that we point to on our schedule as a measuring stick. This was a big win."

Said Stidham, "I figured I'd throw about 120 pitches and I threw 125, so I did about what I thought I'd do. I just try to let my defense work. I had a couple balls hit hard on me, but I kept the ball mostly on the ground."

Harrell said Stidham did a good job of keeping hitters off balance, especially in the early innings.

"His changeup was working real nice especially at the beginning of the game," Harrell said. "He was mixing up his change and his curve, then getting them out on his fastball."

Central committed just one error, but it cost the Tigers a run in the first inning.

"I thought we played fairly well defensively," Williams said. "We had the one error, but it did cost us a run. We made a lot of nice plays though."

Klipfel ended up taking the loss. He went two innings, allowing three hits while fanning one and walking one.

Central starter Matt Welker allowed two runs (one earned) through five innings. He gave up just two hits while fanning four and walking four.

Central is right back in action today, hosting Harrisburg, Ill.