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Three Chaffee Red Devils sign to Three Rivers for softball
CHAFFEE, Mo. — Three Chaffee softball players signed on the dotted line to continue their athletic and academic careers at Three Rivers Community College in the fall of 2018.
Sydney Walker, Madeline Hendrix, and Bridgette Swinford signed their letters of intent at Chaffee High School, on Tuesday.
Last season, the Red Devils finished with a 12-10 record, falling to West County in the semifinals of the district tournament, 2-1.
Walker and Hendrix both finished with impressive senior campaigns, while Swinford got sidelined for the entire season — due to injury.
For Chaffee head coach Brian Horrell, he knows what kind of players that the Raiders will be fielding next spring.
“These three ladies have been a pillar of our program for the last four years,” Horrell said. “You know, as well as the whole senior class, but these three girls, they bring everything to the program that you like: intensity, hustle, desire, athleticism. I’m so blessed and honored that these three ladies are not only going to continue their academic education at Three Rivers but their athletic as well.
“You know, it’s a top-notch program, you saw what they did last year, they’re just getting more and more recognition every year, and I think Three Rivers is getting three good ones and I think our three players are getting to go to a good place, where they’re going to be able to excel academically and athletically.”
Leading the team in batting average, hits, and stolen bases, Hendrix was a force at the plate for the Red Devils.
To add on to that, she also showed a great eye at the plate; finishing the season without a single strikeout.
Overall, Hendrix batted .507, with 36 hits, 24 RBI, and nine walks. She also had 10 steals and led the team in batting average on balls in play, and was second in batting average with runners in scoring position — batting .500 and .545 respectively.
Hendrix also showed her versatility, as she recorded 18 innings pitched on the mound.
Over her 18 innings of work, Hendrix pitched to a 1.94 ERA, with 20 strikeouts to just one walk.
The level of competition between high school and college is different, Horrell knows that and thinks that all three signees will translate just fine when the season rolls around.
“I think their play will transition very well,” Horrell said. “I know sometimes we’re a 1A school, and this year, we got bumped up to 2A, so some people sometimes think we’re small-town athletics, but our schedule is full of 3A and 4A’s. We play the SEMO Conference, and these three ladies also go out and play in the summertime, in a high, elite travel ball level. So, I think that only helped groom their skills and made us very, very successful as a small school program. But, I think these girls will slide in, but they will recognize that the competition’s going to be a whole new level and these three girls won’t back down, and they’ll be willing to compete from Day 1."
All three will be stepping into a program that is on the heels of a 44-16 season, culminating in a trip to the NJCAA World Series.
For Walker, this a time for her to show the coaches what kind of player she is. She added that having a coaching staff that is welcoming helps as well.
“The coaches are so welcoming, and they remind me of the coaches that I’ve had in high school, and their campus isn’t so big, so I feel like you can know everyone,” Walker said. “I hope that my work ethic keeps going up, so I can continue to prove that I should be on the team.”
Walker was a dual-threat player for the Red Devils last season, both on the mound and at the plate.
Leading the team in home runs, and total bases, Walker was able to provide the power to the lineup — which finished with 13 total homers for the campaign. Additionally, she also tied the team lead in RBI as well — with 24.
At Three Rivers, Walker said that she would be playing more of an infielder role; a role that she is accustomed to being a three-time All-State player.
Her versatility ranges beyond the infield, though, as she proved to be a reliable pitcher for the Red Devils.
Last season, Walker finished at 115 2/3 innings pitched, giving up 106 hits and 56 earned runs. She finished with an ERA of 3.39 while striking out 82 batters and walking 80.
She added a robust opposing batting average as well — as the opposition hit just .238 off of her.
For Swinford, it was not what she was planning for heading into her final season of high school softball. Already committed to play at Three Rivers during the 2017 season, Swinford suffered a set back that wound up keeping her off the field for the entire 2018 campaign.
Even though she wasn’t able to produce for the Red Devils, Swinford said that it would be good to pick up a bat and start getting into game form.
“It was really rough for sitting out my senior year,” Swinford said. “I’m glad I get to play with a couple of my friends from high school that I played with for forever; it’s going to be good getting back out there. I’ve loved the game since I was five, so I’m just ready to get back out there and on the field.”
Swinford — along with Walker — is a three-time All-State player and lets her play do the talking.
For the 2017 season, Swinford had 44 hits, six home runs, and 21 RBI for the Red Devils. She also added much speed on the base-paths, with 17 swipes.
Scoring also wasn’t a problem for Swinford, finishing with 48 runs scored and — like Hendrix — showed a keen eye at the plate as well — with just four strikeouts.
Overall, she totaled a .370 batting average, a .395 on-base percentage and slugged a whopping .639.
For Horrell, it’s more so knowing the type of player you’re getting from past performances.
“She didn’t get a lot of accolades this season,” Horrell said. “You just have to look at her past and realize that she was a three-time All-Stater. So, you can understand that she does have the skill set and the accolades, and that was a big setback for our program this year. That was a lot to overcome, but she’s going to work hard, she’s going to tackle this rehabilitation head on and she’s the type of girl, she’s competed, she plays several sports in school, not just softball, she plays basketball, track; she’s a competitor. Whatever you're playing, she’s going to compete to win. So, she’s going to come back stronger than ever.”