By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
After soundly defeating conference rival Savannah in a district championship on Friday, Lafayette (18-7) had another sound performance against another MEC opponent - this time against Chillicothe in sectionals.
The Irish dominated in all phases of the game and beat the Hornets 8-1 Tuesday in a Class 4 sectional game at Shaffer Park.
Senior Jayden Little started on the mound, and pitched the full game, striking out seven and walking only one.
"That's one of the best games he's thrown all year and he's thrown a lot of good ones," Lafayette head coach Matt Jansen said. "So, it's great we didn't have to use too many arms. The other guys are able to stay fresh in preparation for this next game as we move into Thursday. Just, kudos to Jayden for his preparation."
Offensively, Little hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to put Lafayette ahead 6-0.
"We really took pride in preparing for Chillicothe," Jansen said. "That's a good team, good coaching staff. We came out and executed the game plan today to perfection. Offensively, Chance Herie has a day with three hits. Xavion Page had some hits. We really just capitalized on some hard balls put in play offensively."
Senior Chance Herie had the most productive day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, two doubles and three RBIs. Junior Xavion Page drove in a pair of runs on a triple in the top of the sixth, giving Lafayette an 8-0 lead.
Chillicothe put up their only run in the top of the sixth, and went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, ultimately punching Lafayette's ticket to the quarterfinal round.
While the Hornets (12-13) mustered four hits, Lafayette was error free in the field and benefitted from four errors committed by Chillicothe.
The Irish will play in the quarterfinals Thursday against Summit Christian Academy, who defeated Pleasant Hill 6-2 in sectionals Tuesday.
The time of the game is to be determined, but Lafayette will likely play the game at Summit Christian Academy.
"Going in, knowing that we have everybody fresh as far as arms go, and also not having too long of a wait between live at-bats, I think will work in our favor," Jansen pointed out. "So, yeah. I'm excited to get back out there and have a quick turnaround."
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