RED-HOT HORNETS: Holcomb baseball team books trip to state with 5-2 victory against state-ranked Chaffee

Thursday, May 23, 2013
Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
The Holcomb infield meets starting pitcher Cameron Clark at the pitcher's mound after the game-ending out is recorded against Chaffee.

Note: 24 Photos of the Holcomb-Chaffee state quarterfinal are available at this link: View Photos Here

HOLCOMB, Mo. - Holcomb Hornets baseball coach Matt Casper had high expectations for his team at the start of the season.

Among the expectations were to secure a district title in its newly aligned six-team Class 2 baseball district.

The Hornets achieved that feat last week with a come-from-behind 9-8 victory against Portageville in the Class 2, District 1, championship.

The Holcomb baseball team remained red-hot Wednesday afternoon as it extended its winning streak to eight games according to team results posted on the MSHSAA website, with a 5-2 home win against No. 3 ranked Chaffee in a Class 2 state quarterfinal.

"I'm kind of speechless right now," Casper said of his team securing a spot in next week's state final four. "You set your goals high at the beginning of the year, but you set your goals to win a district championship. We've accomplished that so right now I'm a little speechless and overwhelmed. I'm proud of [our] guys and they are just on fire at the right time of the year. I knew they were capable all year and they are just shinning at the right time."

Holcomb never trailed its opponent for a second straight playoff game.

The Hornets pushed its first two runs across the plate in the bottom of the third inning. Chaffee hurler Cody Payne, who started pitching at the start of the bottom of the third inning, retired the first hitter he faced. Cameron Clark then reached base on a one-out walk, Hunter Swafford reached base on a one-out error and Michael Glover drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Holcomb. Payne got Dustin Houart to pop out on the infield for the second out of the third inning.

Holcomb No. 5 hitter Colton Dunbar followed by hitting a ground ball between the pitcher's mound and third base line that was not fielded cleanly. Two runs scored on the play to put Holcomb on top 2-0.

"I was thinking he was coming with a curveball," Dunbar said of his third-inning at-bat. "I wanted to get out in front of it and see what happened. He threw me the curveball, I put it in play and good things happened."

Clark, who went the distance for Holcomb on the mound, held the Chaffee offense in check early. Clark did not allow a hit until Devon Yahn picked up a one-out single in the fourth inning. Clark allowed just two hits and faced one over the minimum in his first six innings of work.

"The main thing was my defense played well behind me," Clark, who struck out five, said. "I don't know how many strikeouts I had, but my defense made every play that was hit their way until that last inning and it was a great outing today."

Chaffee lifted Payne after the fifth inning. Payne reached his 10-inning limit for the sectional-quarterfinal round after he pitched seven innings against Valle Catholic Monday in his team's 2-0 state sectional win and the third, fourth and fifth innings against Holcomb.

The Hornets added three valuable insurance runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Clark drew a one-out walk in the sixth and was drove home when Glover connected for a two-out two-run homer to center.

"We needed some more runs," Glover said. "We knew two runs might not be able to do it because Chaffee can hit the crap out of the baseball. We had to find a way to get some run support up there for our pitcher."

Houart followed Glover's blast by drawing a two-out walk and later advancing to third when Dunbar collected a two-out single. The Hornets added its fifth run when Houart scored from third base when Dunbar got caught in a rundown between first and second. Dunbar was tagged out on the play.

"We needed every run we had," Clark said. "It was huge to get them."

Chaffee's first three hitters reached base in the top of the seventh inning. An RBI single by Payne plated Chaffee's first run. Cody Johnson followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home Chaffee's second run. Chaffee scored its final run when its next hitter Storm Estes reached base on an infield error.

Clark followed by striking out Layton Tenkhoff for the second out of the inning. The game-ending out was recorded when the hitter following Tenkhoff - Cole Hanna - grounded back to Clark and he threw to Dunbar at first base.

"First, I was hoping I didn't boot it," Clark said of fielding the final play. "Then I just couldn't believe how happy I was after it happened."

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Holcomb's Cameron Clark celebrates after completing the game-ending play.

It is the second straight game a Holcomb pitcher has secured a complete-game victory. Houart picked up a complete-game win in Holcomb's 7-1 victory against East Carter County in a Class 2 sectional Monday at Holcomb.

"Our pitching has been good all year," Casper said. "We've got three guys that are really tough. Dustin Houart, who pitched against East Carter was unbelievable, and Cameron was unbelievable today.

"I'm proud as heck," Casper continued. "These guys have improved like crazy these last couple of weeks. It shows and that's the reason we are going to the final four."

Dunbar finished 3 for 4.

"That kid is amazing," Casper said of Dunbar. "He is a freshman that stepped up big for us. We lost some great seniors this past year. He stepped into a first base role and has just relished in it. He's hitting the ball great and his on base percentage today was unbelievable. He just made things happen today and he has been doing it all year long for us.

Glover finished 3 for 3 with two RBIs and one double.

"He's a senior and I'm going to hate to see him go, that's for sure," Casper added of Glover. "He has been doing it for us all year. He is just tearing the cover off the baseball and hopefully he will keep doing it next week."

Johnson pitched the first two innings for Chaffee. He allowed no runs, two hits and struck out two.

Jared Walker pitched the sixth inning for Chaffee. He allowed three runs, two hits and walked two.

Payne allowed three hits and struck out four.

Yahn finished 2 for 3 at the plate.

Holcomb, which secured its 11th district baseball championship in school history last week, is making its first trip to the final four since the 1990s.

"It has been a pretty long time." Casper said of advancing to the final four. "I think they got third at the final four in 1997 because I remember being in school here when that happened. We always set our goals high here at Holcomb on the baseball field and we are just blessed beyond belief to have the opportunity to get there."

Holcomb (21-8) will play Hartville (17-4) in a Class 2 state semifinal Tuesday at 4 p.m. Hartville defeated Billings 9-5 in its Class 2 quarterfinal Wednesday and is ranked No. 8 in the latest Class 2 state poll.

Holcomb's state semifinal will take place at T.R. Hughes Ballpark at 900 T.R. Hughes Boulevard in O'Fallon, Mo. The winner of Tuesday's state semifinal will play for the Class 2 state title Wednesday at 1 p.m. and the loser of Tuesday's state semifinal will play in the third-place game Wednesday at 10 a.m. at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

"It's really exciting," Dunbar said. "I don't want to say it's going to be nerve racking, but it's going to be interesting to see what happens. I've played in big games before, but not near as big as this."

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
The Holcomb baseball team meets Michael Glover at home plate following his home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday against Chaffee.

Holcomb 5, Chaffee 2

CHS 000 000 2 - 2 5 5

HHS 002 003 x - 5 7 1

WP - Cameron Clark. LP - Cody Payne. HR - Michael Glover (H). 2B - Glover (H). Multiple hits - Holcomb: Glover 3-3, Colton Dunbar 3-4; Chaffee: Devon Yahn 2-3.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Holcomb's Pearson McClendon turns a double play at second base.

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