Sikeston blasts weary Chaffee

~ Chaffee surrenders 11 runs in second inning on way to defeat.

Chaffee's baseball team has hit a road block in its season with its third loss in four games, a 16-1 rout Monday at the hands of SEMO Conference-leading Sikeston.

The Red Devils were riding a five-game winning streak and carried a 9-3 record into Friday's tournament opener in the Red Devils Classic. Chaffee dropped two of three in its own tournament and now sits at 10-6 and 3-3 in the conference after Monday's loss.

"I think every team goes through this," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "Even the great teams have a hiccup. The good ones find a way to get out of it."

Sikeston took advantage of Chaffee's depleted pitching staff Monday, going to work right off the bat. Scott Droddy smoked the first pitch of the game through the right side of the infield, and the Bulldogs (12-4) plated two runs in the first on four hits.

With the wind blowing out and a rock-solid infield, it appeared to be a hitters' day. Chaffee's batters got off to a good start with a leadoff double from Chris Hanback, who came home on a sacrifice fly from Josh Steger to make it 2-1 after one inning.

The bats went quiet for Chaffee the rest of the way. Chaffee managed just one hit over the final four innings. The Red Devils scored just five runs on nine hits in their two losses over the weekend.

"I think it's just a matter of someone stepping up and hitting some ropes," Horrell said. "I thought Hanback had something started when he got that double."

Chaffee starter Adam Uhrhan stranded the bases loaded in the first, but he would not be able to get through the Bulldogs' order the second time around. Uhrhan allowed seven of the first eight hitters in the second to reach before being pulled.

Colin Dame relieved Uhrhan, but allowed six batters to reach before finally getting out of the inning. In all, eight different batters registered a hit in the second, and the Bulldogs scored 11 runs on 10 hits, a walk and two errors in the inning.

"I thought today we were really zoned in swinging the bats," Sikeston coach Kevin Self said. "That's the best game we've played since Cape Central, offensively swinging the bats."

Chaffee's pitchers were able to set down Sikeston's emptied bench over the next two innings, and allowed just one earned run over the final three.

"We were really depleted pitching staff-wise, but the kids who did throw threw strikes," Horrell said. "You just have to give credit to Sikeston. For the most part they hit the ball hard. We had a couple of kids get an opportunity to throw, and I thought they did a good job."

Nick Lambert had three hits and four RBIs to lead Sikeston's 16-hit attack. Jerrod Scott allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked none in five innings.

"Jerrod threw the ball well," Self said. "Chaffee's got a good ballclub. They've got some talented kids in the lineup. It helps when you score all those runs in the second."

Chaffee is back in action today at Oak Ridge. The Red Devils will then travel to Dexter for an opening-round game in the SEMO Conference Tournament. Overall, the Red Devils have five regular season games remaining, not including the conference tournament.

"That's the good thing is we still have two or three weeks to go before district starts," Horrell said. "We have time to get things going in the right direction. We have time to fix things. We just have to make sure we get it done."

Sikeston 16, Chaffee 1

Sikeston 2(11)0 03 -- 16 16 1

Chaffee 100 00 -- 1 2 4

WP -- Jerrod Scott. LP -- Adam Uhrhan. 2B -- Chris Hanback (C), Michael Lee (C), Seth Baker (S), Josh Jackson 2 (S), Nick Lambert 2 (S), Tyler Dane (S), Scott (S). Multiple hits -- Sikeston, Lambert 3-3; Scott Droddy 2-3; Jackson 2-3; Scott 2-3; Freddie Gilliland 2-2. Records -- Sikeston 12-4, Chaffee 10-6.