JACKSON KEEPS CHAFFEE BATS IN DEEP FREEZE

JACKSON -- Hits were few and far between Tuesday afternoon when Jackson and Chaffee hooked up in a high school baseball game.

Of course, hits have been hard to come by for Chaffee all season so far.

That trend continued Tuesday when Jackson junior lefthander Chris Kohm fired a one-hit shutout as the Indians defeated the visiting Red Devils 5-0.

Jackson, which had only three hits against Chaffee loser Josh Hanlon, evened its record at 3-3. The Red Devils -- who have only four hits all season -- fell to 0-3.

"We haven't hit all year," said Chaffee coach Bruce Qualls. "When you don't hit, you can't win. We do all kinds of work on our hitting. I don't know what to try.

"He (Kohm) threw it around the plate and that's what you have to do. I think we're capable of hitting the ball better than that. If not, we're in trouble."

Kohm, while far from overpowering with only four strikeouts in seven innings, had solid control as he walked just two and raised his record to 2-0.

"I was really happy with my performance," he said. "I just wanted to throw strikes because I knew my defense would do it. My main objective was to get it over the plate."

Jackson's defense, while not forced to make any tough plays save for a nice catch in foul territory by first baseman Travis Stevens, made all the routine plays. The Indians had no errors as compared to seven miscues during Monday's loss to Perryville.

Chaffee, while making contact most of the day, hit very few balls hard. The Red Devils grounded out 11 times.

"We played a lot better today," said Jackson coach Sam Sides. "If you can make the routine plays, you'll usually be fine. Chris is not overpowering, but he throws strikes and he got his breaking ball over."

Hanlon fanned eight and walked four in six innings.

"I thought Josh threw pretty well," Qualls said. "We just didn't give him much help."

Justin Gladish, Tory Meyr and Todd Wessel had Jackson's hits, with Wessel driving in three runs and Gladish and Meyr each scoring twice.

Chaffee, which had only three baserunners the entire contest, got its only hit with two outs in the fifth on Matt Graham's line-drive single to right. That was also the only frame in which the Red Devils put two runners on base.

Jackson scored the only run it would need in the first as Wessel's ground out scored Meyr.

The Indians made it 3-0 in the third as Meyr singled in Gladish and Meyr later scored on an error.

Wessel's two-run single in the fifth completed the scoring.

Both teams will be right back in action today at home, Jackson against Fredericktown and Chaffee against Delta.