THE DEVIL FACTORY: THE TOWN OF CHAFFEE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE A BASEBALL PLAYER

~Correction: Chaffee team members watched from the dugout during Thursday's 11-10 victory over Jackson. Despite being a small Class 2A school, Chaffee has established itself as the top team in the area in the 2001 season. (COLOR)

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Little Brennan Miller, age 2, waddled past the dugout, a black leather ball glove on his left hand, a rag ball in his right, and a baseball cap pulled over his brow.

"Let's play ball," he said as his all-state uncle, G.P. Glueck, tossed some warmups on the pitching mound Thursday as Chaffee prepared for a game with Jackson High School.

Hunter Thomasson, 10, rested his bicycle against the same dugout, leaned against the chain-link fence and peered through one of the wire diamonds. The red-headed, freckled, summer-league shortstop rode his bike a mile and a half to watch his big brother, Brent, and the rest of the Red Devils play ball.

Another 10-year old, Richie Seyer, watched the game from the bleachers with his grandmother. Seyer, who has no relatives on the team, carried some markers and an erase board to Harmon Field and was keeping score as Chaffee and Jackson posted one run after another.

Two elderly women, sitting in lawn chairs among some younger adults along the right side of the dugout, watched the game while listening to the radio descriptions with headphones. Chaffee is the only school in the area whose baseball games are regularly called on a radio station.

The sights and sounds say it all: Baseball isn't just a game in Chaffee.

It's toddlers. It's senior adults and former players. It's rookie league, little league, Babe Ruth, Sr. Babe Ruth, Legion ball and high school. It's volunteers and coaches. It's radio stations. It's state championships.

More than anything, it's something that Chaffee does well, something that the town takes pride in, something that brings a big grin to the "City with a Smile."

"Baseball is just part of our culture," said Jerry Stroup, father of Red Devil ace Matt Stroup.

Strong tradition

It seems Chaffee's high school team is always, at the minimum, good. The Red Devils may not always win their district, but they're competitive nearly every year.

Only once in the last 10 years has Chaffee finished below .500. That year, in 1997, the Devils went 5-16, but Chaffee turned around the next year and went 15-6. During that 10-year span, Chaffee has a record of 140-70, a winning percentage of .667.

Chaffee, the town of 3,050, has three state baseball titles to its credit, but the last one came way back in 1983.

With the talent on this year's team, Chaffee is hoping to have another shot at the hardware in 2001.

Chaffee has already proven on the field that it is the best team in the area this year, regardless of size.

The Red Devils stand at 17-2 and are ranked second in the latest coaches' state poll in Class 2A. They had a 16-game winning streak snapped this past week, one day after claiming the SEMO Conference Tournament championship on Monday night. To earn the conference championship, the Red Devils beat 3A Dexter, 4A Cape Central and 3A Sikeston. Chaffee is one of the smallest 2A schools in the state, just missing the cutoff from being a 1A school.

At a young age

So what makes tiny Chaffee so successful in baseball, when the football and basketball teams have struggled in recent years?

Most think it's the town's little league program.

"It seems we've always got people who are willing to volunteer and coach," said Chaffee coach Brian Horrell, who had very little time to talk following his team's 11-10 win over 4A Jackson. After all, he had a little league game to get to. "When you're young, people put the time in and make the kids excited about wanting to play ball. Here, we don't have to go begging for coaches. Any time you get volunteering like that, it's good for your program all the way through."

Chaffee's players agree.

Jeremy Lynn and Perry Rice are the keys that get Chaffee's offensive motor started. The top two batters in Chaffee's lineup, they hit, bunt, scratch and claw their way on base.

"It starts from a young age," said Lynn, Chaffee's center fielder. "The main reason (for Chaffee's success) is we've got eight seniors and most of them have played since they were little. We've got a lot of chemistry because we've always played together."

Passing the torch

Rice, a scrappy second baseman, agreed that the little league program is what gets the interest started, but he said there always seems to be older players who pass on the torch.

"You have leaders who show by example," he said. "And the younger players follow their example."

Younger players like Hunter Thomasson, who was watching Brent and his brother's buddies play Thursday afternoon.

"I come to all the games," Hunter said. "Well, most of em. I can't go to the real far ones."

Hunter said he has a batting cage at home and he sometimes plays catch with his older brother.

"They have hitting practice on Sundays and I go to most of those and got to know most of the players," he said.

Jeremy Lynn remembers what it was like when he was Hunter Thomasson, peeking through the fence.

"I always looked forward to playing for such a good program, and getting to come out here and play," Lynn said.

A level playing field

Chaffee could have, on the whole, the smallest athletes in Southeast Missouri.

While other small schools such as Oran, Scott City, Richland and Leopold seem to have big, tall kids coming out of the woodwork, Chaffee's children evidently drink from the small-athlete water source.

The tallest starter on the baseball team is the slender Matt Stroup at about 6-foot.

Several of Chaffee's players go 5-9 or shorter, though many of them are thick and quick.

With the lack of size Chaffee has to work with, it's no wonder its football and basketball teams have fallen on hard times in recent years.

That's one more reason baseball appeals to Chaffee.

"It all boils down to having the skills," said Horrell, who grew up in Chaffee. "In football, you have to be big and strong and make tackles. In basketball, physical inside play is so important with rebounding. But in baseball, if you've got good skills, can pitch the ball, can swing the stick and have good glove work, the size advantage is eliminated. And our kids work hard at honing their skills."

Take Lynn and Rice for instance.

Neither is taller than 5-foot-10 or weighs more than 160 pounds, but both can play baseball as well as any 200-pounder in the region.

"Our team in general is small," Rice said. "We don't have big guys. But we learn the fundamentals at a young age."

Judging from the way little Brennan Miller threw that rag ball ball Thursday afternoon, they do indeed.

A baseball tradition

Year Record Coach

1991 15-6 Bob Coons

1992 19-7 Bruce Qualls

1993 13-5 Bruce Qualls

1994 10-6 Bruce Qualls

1995 14-7 Bruce Qualls

1996 12-7 Bruce Qualls

1997 5-16 Bruce Qualls

1998 15-6 Bruce Qualls

1999 17-5 Bruce Qualls

2000 20-5 Brian Horrell

2001 18-2* Brian Horrell

* As of May 4

State championship years

1975 coach Mike Payne

1977 Mike Payen

1983 Rick Chastain

Head coaches in Southeast Missouri from Chaffee

Brian Horrell, Chaffee

Jeff Graviett, Notre Dame

Mike Umfleet, Scott City