Sutterfield's home run lifts Chaffee softball team over Canton in Class 1 third-place game

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Each time Chaffee senior third baseman Julia Sutterfield gets ready to bat she takes her batting glove from her right pocket and then buttons the pocket.

She takes her bat and draws an X in the dirt just outside the batter's box.

Then she swings her bat so it hits her back.

That wasn't the case when she stepped to the plate with two outs and the game tied in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Class 1 third-place game.

After having gone 0 for 4 in her team's state semifinal earlier in the day and already 0 for 3 in the final game of her high school career, Sutterfield decided it was time to switch things up.

"I'm very superstitious so it's all mental with me and so I changed everything I could physically," Sutterfield said. "I changed my batting stance, I changed my pre-routine, I changed bats I was using. So my last at-bat I was like, 'What have I got to lose?' so I just went up there very relaxed, nothing in my mind at all, loose grip on the bat and then just turned on it and good things happen."

Sutterfield snapped her hitless streak with a solo home run to left that put the Red Devils ahead for good in a 6-4 victory over Canton for third place.

"I just was very easy-going, very free-flowing, trying to just stick to the basics," Sutterfield said. "What (assistant coach) Joe (Hendrix) preaches is stick to the fundamentals, and he's right."

Chaffee and Canton were tied at 4 before Sutterfield's final Red Devil hit.

Chaffee head coach AJ Horn (left) receives the Class 1 third place trophy from assistant coach Joe Hendrix Friday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

"First pitch she just turns, and then with the wind blowing in (I'm) just over there at first, 'Get out, get out, get out,' and when it went out it was an amazing feeling," Chaffee coach AJ Horn said.

After Sutterfield's eventual game-winner, Chaffee freshman Sydney Walker reached when the first baseman dropped the ball and senior Carleigh Burnett singled. Freshman Madeline Hendrix was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Freshman Carlie Milz singled to put the Red Devils up 6-4 after six.

Canton's Jensen Crenshaw singled to lead off the top of the seventh. The next batter, Alison Phillips, hit one hard that second baseman Hendrix dove to her right to snare and tossed to second to get the lead runner.

Phillips advanced to third on a two-out single to right before a line-out to left ended the game.

"Oh my goodness," Horn said of Hendrix's play. "They had a runner on first and their power hitter -- she was 3 for 3 today -- came up for the fourth time and hit a hard shot to Madeline. And Madeline, she's not unaccustomed to making those plays. She's made those plays all year. Her range at second base is unbelievable. She is accustomed to making those plays."

Chaffee jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Freshmen Bridgette Swinford and Bailey Wiseman led off with back to back singles before a Sutterfield strikeout.

Walker got a base hit to load the bases and Burnett came through with a single, but Swinford was thrown out at home.

A two-out error by the second baseman scored Walker and Wiseman.

The Tigers cut the deficit in half in the next inning. Canton's Kailee Gaither hit a two-out single and was driven in with a triple.

Canton plated three in the third on three hits and a throwing error by Sutterfield to take a 4-2 lead.

Chaffee's Hannah Seyer (1), Julia Sutterfield (6) and Carleigh Burnett (16) hoist the Class 1 third place trophy after defeating Canton Friday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

Senior Hannah Seyer said the team handled the deficit well because "softball's a game of chances."

"You've just got to play like you know something's going to go right," Seyer said.

Chaffee cut it to 4-3 in the bottom of the third. Walker and Burnett each hit one-out singles and Hendrix reached on a fielder's choice before Milz drew a bases-loaded walk.

The Red Devils tied it in the bottom of the fifth. Walker, who went 3 for 4 in the game, led off with a double and moved to third on a passed ball before Hendrix drew a walk.

A misplayed ball at third allowed Walker to even it before Sutterfield's go-ahead shot in the sixth.

Chaffee finished its season 15-15 after advancing to the final four for the first time in program history, and Horn praised his three seniors -- Sutterfield, Seyer and Burnett -- with helping the program reach historic heights.

"We started three years ago with these girls, with these three seniors as sophomores, and it's been so fun to see them grow in three seasons and what they've been able to accomplish," Horn said. "They had two seven-win seasons and now this year they're third at state. It's been a rollercoaster for them but one thing I can say about them is they have heart and when they display that to those younger kids those younger kids follow in line and make the plays for them."

Those seniors hope the underclassmen, which includes seven freshman, continue to put in the work that got them to a third-place finish in Class 1.

"I hope that they just strive to do the same thing every year," Seyer said. "I want them to get here every year, I want to come watch them every year."

Burnett added: "I hope they stay hungry for this their entire high school careers and come back and get first in state."

Canton 013 000 0 -- 4 10 3

Chaffee 201 012 x -- 6 11 1

WP -- Hannah Seyer. LP -- Olivia Jarvis. 2B -- Allison Phillips 2 (Ca), Sydney Walker (Ch). 3B -- Katie Gaus (Ca). HR -- Julia Sutterfield (Ch). Multiple hits -- Canton: Brianna Caldwell 2-3, Phillips 2-4, Kailee Gaither 2-3; Chaffee: Bridgette Swinford 2-4, Walker 3-4, Burnett 3-4.