Charleston congratulates second baseman Jarryd Smith after turning a double play in the third inning Tuesday afternoon at Hillhouse Park in Charleston. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

CHARLESTON -- Even with the rain coming and going and the Chaffee Red Devils surging towards a late comeback, the Charleston Bluejays still got it done on Tuesday as they advanced to the final round of the Class 2, District 2 tournament by defeating the Red Devils 8-4.

"We battled all day," Charleston head coach Michael Minner said. "We did some good things offensively late in the game. We played our game and put ourselves in a position to win."

Chaffee's Andy Hendrix slides into home on a wild pitch as Charleston pitcher James Miller covers the plate Tuesday afternoon in Charleston. Hendrix was safe on the play. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat) [Click to enlarge]

Both teams had to battle the weather for most of the game with numerous small rain delays giving and taking momentum away.

"The rain was coming and you're trying to get the game in and it just changes up your whole routine," Minner said of the rainfall. "It's just the situation where we probably should have just tarped the field and just let it sit for a little bit. Luckily we had built us up a little lead there and had a few runs to play with."

The Bluejays exploded with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead after some rain stoppages. But, the Red Devils tried to do the same thing in the top of the seventh by scoring three runs with no outs recorded and the rain still coming down.

"That last inning brought up tough situations for both teams," Chaffee head coach Brian Horrell said. "I think the weather had something to do with us having trouble out there and them also in the top of the seventh. I definitely think it had a bearing on the pitchers."

Chaffee did have two early chances to score early in the game, but the Bluejays defense stopped anything from developing by converting two 6-4-3 double plays.

The first 6-4-3 came in he second inning when Andy Hendrix led off with a walk that was followed by another walk to Hunter Thomason. The next batter, Aaron Horrell, hit a ground ball to Chase McClendon who tossed it to Jarryd Smith, who then made the throw to Nick Johnson to complete the 6-4-3. James Miller proceeded to strike out the next batter to end the inning with a runner stranded at third base.

The second double play was an even more crucial play because the bases were loaded and only one out was recorded. This time it was Josh Steger who grounded into the double play that ended the top of the third inning as well as the threat.

"They made some game-changing plays," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "The two double plays that we hit in were critical. If those balls get through or even just one out is made, that takes runs off the board. Their defense turned the double plays and that's what you have to do."

The Bluejays gained the lead after stopping the Red Devils for the second time in the bottom of the third when Chase McClendon knocked in the games first run with a base hit up the middle to score Paul Johnson.

McClendon was then brought home by Colin Gilooly with a single. Two batters later, the Bluejays starting pitcher James Miller, who received the win on the mound, drove in Gilooly with a sacrifice fly into right field to give Charleston an early 3-0 lead.

Chaffee bounced right back with a run in the fourth inning to cut the lead to two runs. Andy Hendrix, who went 2-3 on the day, knocked a double off the bottom of the left field wall to lead-off the inning. Then, Aaron Horrell advanced Hendrix to third on a single and one wild pitch later, Hendrix crossed the plate to make it a 3-1 ball game.

"I felt like if we could have got out of the gate a little better, then maybe we could have got a little bit of momentum going," Brian Horrell said. "But they did a good job of stopping us."

McClendon led the charge at the dish for the Bluejays with two hits, two runs and two RBI.

"He's been swinging the bat real well," Minner said of McClendon. "He stepped up and drove in some runs for us today. He came up in some crucial situations and hit the ball real well."

The freshman starter for the Red Devils, Andrew Dooley, ended up taking the loss in the contest. Dooley allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in his line of work.

"I was very pleased with his effort," Horrell said of his starting hurler. "I thought he gave us a tremendous effort. I thought his performance was very good for any pitcher but, especially for a freshman I thought he showed good character today."

Chaffee, who finished the season at 16-7, will be losing a heap of experience as they will graduate seven seniors. Even though going into the season with little help on the mound, the Red Devils managed to have a surprising productive season on the hill.

"Everybody thought that pitching was going to be one of our weak spots but I can't say it was," Horrell said of their season. "Our pitching was a very pleasant surprise. Going 17-10 last year and bouncing back with 16-7 with no pitchers coming back I thought was a tremendous accomplishment. It just doesn't seem like it right now."

As for the Bluejays, this win sets up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship today, when they will take on the Scott City Rams at 5 p.m.

"We expect to win," Minner said. "We're going to stick the kid who s been our best pitcher out there on the mound and we're going to see where they fall. They threw Modglin already so, fortunately we don't have to face him tomorrow for more than an inning or two. If we do see him then that means that we're in the ballgame.

"We feel like we re as good as anybody on any given day so hopefully the right blue team shows up tomorrow."