Oran baseball team clips Chaffee in nine innings

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Oran Eagles followed to perfection the scouting report on how to beat the Chaffee baseball team this season.

The report reads: Limit the Red Devils to one run, then find a way to score two.

It took the Eagles nine innings to see through the plan, but they were rewarded with a 2-1 victory Friday at Harmon Field.

Chaffee (20-3) has not allowed any of its 23 opponents to score more than two runs this season, and its three losses all have been by 2-1 scores.

Kelly drew up the 2-1 blueprint early in the season, and the Red Devils rolled off 17 consecutive victories before Shawnee posted a 2-1 win in the title game of the Red Devils' own tournament last weekend.

Chaffee shortstop Jared Walker forces out Oran's Dalton Elfrink at second base during the fifth inning Friday, May 4, 2012 in Chaffee, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Oran (15-7) executed the "one" part of the blueprint with a nine-inning, three-hit complete game by junior right-hander Kody Moore.

"I never went nine innings," said Moore, who threw 112 pitches in a fast-moving game that lasted just more than two hours. "That definitely was one of my best outings. I'll remember this one forever.

"The main thing that kept me in there throwing all nine innings was my team. They kept battling, and I couldn't quit on them."

The offense delivered the "two" on a two-out RBI double by Bear Hicks in the fifth inning and an unearned run in the ninth off hard-luck loser Alex Davie, who pitched 8 1/3 innings.

Hicks' hit was just one of two allowed by Davie over the first eight innings.

Chaffee baserunner Daniel Dooley safely reaches second base as Oran second baseman Adam Schaefer, left, covers the base during the first inning Friday in Chaffee, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Davie ran into trouble in the ninth when Seth Ressel led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out single by Blake Carlyle. It was the first time Oran had two runners on base in an inning against Davie, a senior left-hander who struck out eight and walked only two.

Oran's No. 5 hitter, Dalton Elfrink, then hit a sharp ground ball to the second baseman, who threw errantly to the shortstop in an attempt to turn a double play. The ball rolled into shallow right field, and Ressel scored.

The play ended Davie's day at 101 pitches, and Cody Payne inherited runners at second and third. Payne escaped further trouble on a sliding catch by Daniel Dooley in shallow center field and a strikeout.

"As a coach, you give up two in nine innings, you can't really be too disappointed," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "Unfortunately it was a hiccup that cost us the second run. But you have to tip your hat to them. They had something to do with that. They put the pressure on us."

Oran was not without its own defensive miscues, and it opened the door for a possible comeback in the bottom of the inning. Moore committed a one-out error on Devon Yahn's ball back to the mound, and Yahn advanced to second on a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Mitchell Dirnberger.

Payne, the Red Devils' leadoff man and top hitter, then was issued an intentional pass to put the potential winning run at first.

"They hadn't hit a lot of balls in the gaps, so I wasn't too worried about them scoring the way it was," Oran coach Mitch Wood said about his decision to put the winning run on base. "I don't do that very often, to be honest with you. In fact it may be the first time I've done that. I'm a feeling guy, and I don't know, I felt something there."

Dooley then flew out on the first pitch to left fielder Jacob Priggel to end the game.

"I thought their pitcher threw outstanding, just like Alex," Horrell said. "He got ahead of us. He was trying to be aggressive."

Moore struck out four and walked three, including the intentional pass.

"We had opportunities," Horrell said. "It's not necessarily because we roughed him up. It's just his defense had a few hiccups. We had opportunities. We just couldn't come through in a big situation."

Oran supplemented Chaffee's three hits and three walks with four errors and a dropped third strike that allowed another Red Devils player to get aboard.

"We had six [errors Thursday against New Madrid], so we thought we did pretty good," Wood said. "They're high school kids. We very seldom are going to play a perfect game."

On the other side of the ledger, the defense made 24 putouts behind Moore.

The Eagles cut down lead runners on sacrifice bunt attempts twice, as did the Chaffee defense.

"It was probably for a conference championship, and both teams were put in bunting situations," Horrell said. "I thought both teams handled it well defensively. Both teams were throwing guys out at second base instead of just taking the out at first. Defensively we were just playing aggressively. It was just a high pressure-packed game between two quality schools."

Chaffee had baserunners in all but one inning, but the Oran defense stranded four Red Devils in scoring position.

"They had a few messups, but then again they came back and made good plays for me," Moore said. "I have all the confidence in the world in them, and I knew they'd pick me up."

Moore improved to 3-1 with a win that gave Oran the Scott-Mississippi Conference championship.

"He's struggled a lot this year, and he really came out today and did a good job," Wood said. "We've probably used him less against the tougher teams we've played. He just hasn't fell right in the rotation. And he asked me Monday. He wanted the ball Monday. So I knew he wanted it. We were able to put him in a situation, and we're really happy with his performance."

Moore allowed a triple to Alex Crowe with one out in the second inning, and Crowe scored on a sacrifice fly by Layton Tenkhoff.

Moore allowed just one more hit over the final seven innings.

"This has been a good game the past three years," Moore said. "I definitely wanted to throw today. In a close game like this, I wasn't throwing too bad. I really wanted to stay out there and keep throwing."

Oran pulled even in the fifth inning after Elfrink led off with a walk. He was forced at second for the second out of the inning when Adam Schaefer's pop fly was dropped in shallow right field. Hicks, a sophomore right-handed hitter with a .148 average, then sent a 1-2 pitch from Davie deep into the left-center field gap to score Schaefer from first.

"I think he threw me a fastball right down the middle," Hicks said. "And out there with two strikes I was thinking get a hit so we can tie the game up and win this game."

"He's struggled a little bit, but apparently the scouting report wasn't good because he can hit a fastball," Wood said. "You throw him that, and he can hit a little bit."

It marked the second straight year Oran trimmed Chaffee by a run.

"Historically this game is late in the year for both teams," Horrell said. "It's a good game for the kids on both teams to try to get themselves ready for district, but unfortunately somebody has got to lose, and unfortunately it's been us the last two years by one run."

Oran 000 010 001 -- 2 4 4

Chaffee 010 000 000 -- 1 3 3

WP -- Kody Moore, 3-1. LP -- Alex Davie. 3B -- Alex Crowe (C). 2B -- Bear Hicks (O). Records -- Oran 15-7, Chaffee 20-3.