Red Devils have “something to prove” after undefeated opening weekend

Chaffee baseball is fresh off of its deepest run in three decades, and that carries a lot of weight with it than just a shiny trophy.

For coach Aaron Horrell and his Chaffee Red Devils, preparing for another long year in a region filled with teams looking to knock them down, the M.O. is clear.

“We've adopted the motto that there's something to prove,” Horrell said.

“Whether that's to ourselves, to me or whoever.”

Horrell is a career Devil. He’s made his living in Chaffee, where he grew up, and even took the post of his father and longtime Devils baseball skipper Brian Horrell two years ago.

So when he got wind that anybody had been trying to discredit the Devils’ third-place trophy a season ago, or the validity of them as a postseason contender this year, he took a stance.

A firm, loud stance against any implication that Chaffee didn’t earn that bronze, or that it couldn’t repeat or surpass that effort this year.

“I've heard the comments,” Horrell said. “The road is harder, but there are people that discredit anything we’ve done.

“They might have viewed the competition as weaker, but all we could do was play the people on our schedule. We did that last year.”

He noted that, going into the new year, the Devils are focused on controlling their own destiny and not letting the successes of last year go to their heads.

Those doubters, and the road ahead, add fuel to that fire, and Chaffee is amped to go out and prove that it can play with the big boys.

“I've tried to preach to our kids that this year isn't the same as last year,” Horrell said. “This isn't the same team that went to the final four, even if we have a lot of those players back.

“There's so much luck and small things involved in baseball. We're guaranteed nothing, so we have to come out and prove it every day.”

Chaffee got a great start to that proving process over the weekend, hounding Shawnee in a blowout opener before eking out a 4-3 victory against Crystal City on Saturday.

Though it could have been a stronger start, the Devils are riding the highs of their 3-run seventh inning for a walk-off victory against the same Hornets that they faced in the playoffs last May.

It certainly didn’t come easy, largely because of Chaffee’s early problems fielding the ball and allowing Crystal City to tack on a couple runs that put it in a rough spot.

“Our pitchers today – we went seven innings, gave up one hit and struck out 15,” Horrell began. “But our defense, when they put it in play on us, we just didn't make many plays.”

Chaffee’s report says the Devils committed five errors in the field, which would put any team in a tough spot defensively.

Regardless, that young and fierce Chaffee team still found a way to overcome and put itself in a position to win the game.

That it did, escaping a sure defeat at the death as the Devils showed some serious grit in their second game of the season to ensure they kept that early undefeated record alive.

“It was good for us to be tested,” Horrell said. “We're still young. We're still kind of inexperienced.

“It's good to win, and maybe learn from wins as opposed to trying to learn from losses.”

The Devils are nursing some early injuries, particularly from senior standout pitcher Levi McKinnie who’s on a pitch count following a shoulder injury a few weeks ago.

Managing the diamond is only half the battle for a baseball manager, and Horrell is no stranger to trying to find ways to manage McKinnie’s superstar arm.

Moving forward, Chaffee’s looking to get back to full strength while working with its young talent to get it back to the glory of yesteryear.

At the center of that work, as the young Devils coach emphasized, are his eight talented and, more importantly, tried seniors.

“We've had some really good senior leadership, not just for varsity but program-wide,” Horrell said. “I just want our kids to become a team. To grow together and bond.

“The seniors already have a great challenge on the field, but they can also leave an impression on these 14 freshmen that could keep this program strong for the next three years.”