Softball semifinal shootout takes seven as Mid-Buchanan squeaks past Chaffee

Chaffee's Brian Horrell talks to his team following a Friday, November 1, 2024 Class 2 semifinal game between the Chaffee Red Devils and the Mid-Buchanan Dragons at Killian Sports Complex in Springfield, Mo. Mid-Buchanan defeated Chaffee, 8-6.

Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

With the season on the line, it took all seven innings to decide a semifinal between Chaffee and Mid-Buchanan, but a big rally late helped push the latter past the Red Devils, 8-6, and into the Class 2 state title game.

What looked like a duel early on turned into a shootout as Chaffee’s rallies were immediately responded by bigger, louder Dragon rallies in an explosive affair in Springfield.

In a tied seventh inning, the hits started to pile up for Mid-Buchanan as it battled through a sensational Chaffee effort and into its first championship appearance since 1979.

But for the Red Devils, it spells the end of a long, arduous run at a gold medal that finished just a hair short of a second consecutive appearance in the state championship game.

“Give them credit,” Red Devils coach Brian Horrell began, “They just kept hitting the ball. They're a great team.

“Every time we punched them today, they counterpunched us – it was just a really great ball game.”

Both Carlyanne Cossou and Bailey Robertson finished their days with two hits, while Paizleigh Graham got perhaps the biggest hit of the game with a sixth-inning homer to end a scoreless drought.

Chaffee had the energy necessary to fight to the very finish, but it came down to late-game execution, and Mid-Buchanan didn’t falter when it mattered the very most.

Sophia Smith, Zuzu Kountz and Kaylea Myers each notched two hits in the Mid-Buchanan victory, with Dru Pearson’s one hit going for a game-high four RBI.

Answering the bell, both teams took fire to the plate, and what appeared to be a battle of great pitching turned into a firefight that the Dragons barely squeaked out of.

Though it might get lost in the details, the Red Devils brought every last bit of the game they could’ve before Mid-Buchanan finally iced this one out on a rocket line-drive catch.

It came down to who could make the most plays, and with a few Chaffee misplays that gave the Dragons a little extra life, there’s no doubt that Mid-Buchanan won the battle of execution.

“We hope our offense continues to keep growing,” Horrell said. “Our pitching was great, but our defense faulted a little bit.

“Usually we're solid defensively behind a great pitcher in Carlyanne Cossou, an All-Stater, but our defense had a few hiccups today that our offense wasn’t able to pick us up all the way.”

Settling into a pitchers’ duel early, neither side got a real breakthrough until the Dragons put two in scoring position at second and third in the top of the third inning.

But Carlyanne Cossou pitched out of it with a groundout to second, keeping it scoreless for the fierce Mid-Buchanan a little longer.

The bottom half of the third, Cossou got on with a two-out walk and while stealing second made it all the way around the third, where she later stood in on a corners opportunity for Reese Van Pelt.

Van Pelt blasted a 2-run double over the head of the center fielder, opening the scoring at 2-0 for Chaffee as Cossou came in along with Millie Carroll all the way from first base.

But as Chaffee began to wake up, so too did Mid-Buchanan as sophomore Dru Pearson hammered a line-drive grand slam to unload the bases and put the Dragons in front.

Chaffee had a few chances to get out of the rally, but one swing took the Red Devils from up a pair to down 4-2 going into the home half of the fourth after a leaping snag from Addison Uhrhan at the wall.

With a near guarantee of Jocelyn Hanlon’s rip into the gap scoring a run, Pearson again flexed her skills as she made a sprinting catch in left-center and fired it back into the infield to turn an inning-ending double play, the latter confirmed after a 10-minute long review.

In desperate need of an injection of energy, Paizleigh Graham became Paizleigh “Bam” with a solo shot just inside the left-field pole to make it a 1-run game in the sixth, and her teammates followed suit.

After drawing a two-out walk, Jersie Lynn came around to score on a double that rose the Chaffee crowd to piercing levels, tying the game at 4-all going into the seventh.

But when the Devils needed a stop most, leadoff batter Sophie Smith drilled a triple into the right outfield gap to put the go-ahead run just 60 feet away in the final frame.

With the bases juiced, Zuzu Kountz slammed a line-drive single up the middle to score two, putting Mid-Buchanan back in front at 6-4, and starting pitcher Kaylea Myers put another two on the board with an RBI double into sharp right.

Down to its final three outs, Chaffee took one last shot at the comeback, and even put another two runs on the board largely thanks to a shallow poke from Reese Van Pelt that turned into two bases.

But in the end, it was Mid-Buchanan celebrating a spot in the final game of the Class 2 season as Chaffee looked on from a narrow loss in a fearsome fight of two of the hottest teams in the state.

Losing sets up a date with Linn, with first pitch scheduled for 5:15 p.m. on Friday night. It’s one last opportunity for the Red Devils to lace up against one of the state’s finest foes.

If you recognize the name Linn, there’s a good chance that it’s because of Chaffee’s semifinal victory over the Wildcats last October that brought the Red Devils into the final stage.

But this year, it’s a third-place matchup as both teams look to bounce back from the short recovery slate and take home the bronze medal under the lights.

The stance on the third-place game, as a concept, is mixed, but these girls will embrace one last opportunity to get together and play for state rights, aiming for a second consecutive top-3 finish.

“Nobody really looks forward to playing that third-place game,” Horrell said. “Right after you get beat, and your hopes and dreams are dashed.

“But I have faith in our girls. I have faith that when we show up and get back on the field, we'll flip the light switch and we'll come out and compete to the best of our ability.”