Chaffee clinches Scott-Mississippi conference with rout of Oak Ridge

Chaffee's Leyton Hanback delivers a pitch during the Red Devils' 17-2 win over Oak Ridge on Friday, May 3, at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

The Chaffee Red Devils entered Friday’s contest with the Oak Ridge Blue Jays looking to clinch the Scott-Mississippi Conference Championship.

They did just that, defeating the Blue Jays 17-2 to win the conference and pick up win number 21 on the season.

“Our conference is really good,” Chaffee coach Aaron Horrell said. “I would put our conference up against any small school conference in the state. It’s a deep conference.”

Playing as the visiting team, Chaffee stormed out of the gates hot as the Red Devils took a 2-0 lead behind RBIs from Eli Glueck and Rolen Reischman.

“To come out and jump on them quick let me know that we were focused today,” Horrell said. “We were ready to go conquer the moment and be conference champs.”

Red Devils’ starter Leyton Hanback kept the momentum the offensive generated by making quick work of the Blue Jays in the bottom of the first.

“He had a four-pitch first inning,” Horrell said. “That is fun to play defense behind. He did a great job of going out there and attacking the zone today.”

Both sides went scoreless in the second but in the top of the third, Chaffee piled on.

Carson Spies led the inning off with a double and he scored a batter later as Hanback ripped a triple into right field, making it 3-0 Red Devils.

After Easton Fowler popped out, Reischman reached on an error, scoring Hanback, and extending Chaffee’s lead to 4-0.

“The first guy was keeping us off balance and mixing his speeds,” Horrell said. “Sometimes it takes us one time through the order to adjust.”

The scoring didn’t stop there though as Levi McKinnie drew a bases-loaded walk making it 5-0 Red Devils.

Connor Berry scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch as Chaffee took a commanding 6-0 lead into the bottom of the third.

A double by Mason Bolin and a walk by Hunter Mason put the Blue Jays in business to begin the home half of the third inning.

Bolin moved up to third on a wild pitch by Hanback and in the same at-bat, Noah Engler bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Bolin and making it 6-1.

“Layton is a sophomore and we’re really going to count on him next year,” Horrell said. “We want to leave him out there and let him fight through some of that stuff because we believe in him.”

The Red Devils restored their six-run lead in the fourth inning as Connor Berry singled home Fowler.

Chaffee tacked yet another run on in the top of the fifth when Eli Glueck singled home Levi McKinnie making it 8-1 Red Devils.

Hanback continued to cruise on the mound for the Red Devils as he finished with a final line of five innings pitched, just one run allowed while striking out five.

“I think his velocity got better as the day went on,” Horrell said. “He was struggling to get his footing because the turf was a little bit wet and there in around the fourth he really started feeling it and he was getting ahead.”

In the top of the sixth, Kamden Little singled to right field, scoring a pair of runs and making it 10-1 Chaffee.

On the very next pitch, a wild pitch allowed yet another run to score, making it 11-1 Chaffee.

Little came around to score on a wild pitch as the Red Devils extended their lead to 12-1.

Chaffee tacked on five more runs via walk or hit by pitch before the inning ended, giving the Red Devils a commanding 17-1 lead.

Oak Ridge (3-14) hits the road at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 6, when the Blue Jays take on Crystal City.

Chaffee (21-3) returns home at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, when the Red Devils put their five-game winning streak to the test against Portageville in Chaffee.

“We want to face the best that we can going into districts,” Horrell said.