Chaffee’s ace stifles Scott City in 1-0 pitchers’ duel

Chaffee senior Levi McKinnine throws a pitch against Scott City on Wednesday, May 1 in Chaffee, Mo.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

"It's like déjà vu all over again."

Much like last year, Chaffee narrowly defeated Scott City 1-0 in a pitchers' duel where stellar pales in comparison with spectacular.

Chaffee senior Levi McKinnie threw a complete game shutout with one hit, three walks, and eight strikeouts. Scott City senior Blake Wilbrun went six innings with one run on two hits, four walks, and eight strikeouts.

“Last year was the same situation,” Chaffee head coach Aaron Horrell said.

It was McKinnie’s first outing since having to leave the game against Oran on April 22 with a finger infection that had him sent to the emergency room.

“He just did what he had to do and with rehab and treatment and things at the doctor,” Horrell said. “We didn't know if we were gonna have him until yesterday. He had an appointment, he got cleared and I was still hesitant but you know, he's a senior. This is a big rivalry. He told me he wanted the ball so who am I to stop him?”

Neither team had a hit until the fourth inning. Carson Spies broke the deadlock with a single and scored on an RBI base hit by Easton Fowler for the only run in the game.

Scott City’s only hit came on a single by senior catcher Levi Senn.

Facing a high pitch count, McKinnie was able to complete the gem with a ground out and a pair of flyouts in the seventh inning.

According to McKinnie, it’s his best outing of the year. So far this season, McKinnie is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.02 and 55 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched.

“He was really good,” Horrell said. “I think there's been some times I think he maybe was more sharp with the slider, but just his competitive nature is so dang good. You see they got kids over there hitting .400 .500 scoring seems like 15 runs a game and he comes out and throws the one-hitter. I don't know what else to say. I feel like I've got the best pitcher in this area.”

McKinnie attributes his growth on the mound to his overall growth as an athlete. He put a lot of work in the gym to build his body up to be a pass rusher in football, and it’s paid off on the baseball diamond as well.

“I’ve gotten in the weight room,” McKinnie said. “I've worked harder. I want to be able to get better before I go to college. So I'm trying to do everything I can to be a better player and a better teammate.”

Last fall, McKinnie signed his letter of intent to play at Jefferson College. The junior college program has a solid reputation of sending many of its players to Division I programs.

“It’s just a really good school, really good at baseball,” McKinnie said. “I knew what it was. I knew what I was going there for and I knew the competition they play and it's just better for me and that's why I gotta work towards it.”

The Red Devils have now won their 20th game for the second consecutive season. Chaffee finished last year in the Class 2 state semifinals and the team has the collective belief in returning this season.

“We're very confident,” McKinnie said. “We play hard every game and we're gonna leave it all out there.”

Whether or not the Red Devils can make it back depends on the health of their ace.

“We've just tried to be smart with his arm,” Horrell said. “Early in the year it’s been a little bit of a shoulder, in the middle of the year, it’s the finger issue. When you got a cool shiny toy you kind of keep it in good shape. We've just tried to be smart with it because we know a lot of our season rides on his back and we're only going to go where we want to go if he's the guy out there with the ball in his hand.”

The Red Devils will take on Oak Ridge at Capaha Field on Friday with the Scott-Miss Conference title on the line.

Scott City returns home on Thursday to host Notre Dame. Should the Rams win the remaining five regular season games, they will enter the Class 3 District 2 Tournament with 30 wins.