Red Devils edge Rangers to reach Class 2 semifinals

Chaffee outfielder Reese Van Pelt said earlier in the month that seeing the baseball team make it to the state semifinals this past spring motivated the softball team to do the same.

The Red Devils matched their male counterparts by returning to the final four for the first time since 2017 after defeating Iberia 8-7 in the Class 2 quarterfinal on Saturday in Chaffee, Missouri.

“I'm just so thankful that these girls are going to get a chance to experience that. This is great for community,” said Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. “We had the dugout lined from around home plate all the way around the outfield, what the atmosphere.”

A team with only four seniors and two juniors has won 20 games this season, which is more than the Red Devil teams that made the final four in 2017 (18-13) and 2015 (15-15). Freshman Paizleigh Graham led the Red Devils with four hits including three doubles and seven RBI. Fellow freshman Carlyanne Cossou went 3-for-4 and drove in the other run for the Red Devils. She also pitched a complete game on the mound, giving up seven runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.

“We’re a pretty young team, but we're a resilient team,” Horrell said. “We preached all year long we're gonna play a tough schedule so that when we face adversity and get behind we got to learn to come back.”

The Red Devils started in an early hole after the Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Chaffee responded quickly with a two-run RBI double by Graham to the tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.

The Red Devils took control of the game in the second inning with four runs by Graham and Cossou. After the Rangers added a run in the third inning, Graham hit one more two-run double in the fourth to give Chaffee eight runs through the first half of the game.

The Rangers tried to rally in late with a four-run sixth inning, but Chaffee held onto their massive lead.

“We kept telling them, we got to score because Iberia is a heck of a softball club, Horrell said. “We knew they had some sticks in that lineup. And even though we had an 8-3 lead, you just got to hope you can keep dodging bullets and they were able to get a four spot there at the top of the sixth and it made it very interesting for everybody here.”

Chaffee will take on Linn at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield, Missouri, at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27. Linn, the Class 2 District 3 champions, have outscored opponents 42-24 throughout the postseason.