So far, it has been a softball season filled with new players in new positions facing new challenges for the Mules.
On Tuesday, freshman Emilee Cheek came through in the clutch with a game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth as Poplar Bluff rallied to beat Chaffee 4-3 at Bobby Strenfel Field.
"We made some mistakes in that game and to come back from those mistakes and not shut down is huge because it is so easy to get discouraged," Poplar Bluff coach Lisa Boyer said.
Chaffee committed five errors and didn't give up an earned run in the game. The fifth and final error put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, bringing Cheek to the plate.
The No. 9 hitter smacked a one-hopper to left, easily scoring Kaylee Cheek from third, moving Caleigh Chilton to third and bringing leadoff hitter Abby Gregory to the plate.
"That's incredible, that's what you hope for. You always hope people who aren't hitting as well, that other people will pick them up. I feel confident in the lower part of our lineup. The ability is there and they came through big today," Boyer said of Cheek.
Added Cheek, "I've been not doing as good as I hope to be, but I just said to get it out of my head, just hit the ball and make contact with it."
A slap hitter, Gregory was 1 for 3 with a pair of bang-bang outs at first base. She hit another infield grounder to the left side that was fielded cleanly, but the fielder hesitated to throw home, then hesitated to throw to first, and the end result was Poplar Bluff (5-1) taking a 4-3 lead without Chaffee (2-3) attempting a throw to any base.
Not technically an error, but certainly one final defensive mistake by the Red Devils.
"Obviously, I'm not very happy with our defense. I thought we made a lot of errors today, just was not sharp," Chaffee assistant coach Brian Horrell said. "I felt offensively, their (pitcher) kept us in check, she had our No. 3-4 hitters' numbers. Overall I thought the difference in the game was our defense but I don't want to put the blame on them, you've got to tip your cap to them for putting the ball in play and making us make plays and we couldn't do it today."
Chaffee also committed two errors in the first inning and one in the second that allowed a run to score in each inning.
Gregory and Emilee Cheek scored early, giving the Mules a 2-1 lead after two innings.
Poplar Bluff had a runner on second with nobody out in both the second and fifth innings, but Chaffee turned 6-3-5 double plays in both innings.
"I told them after the second one, 'She's looking us back, she's freezing us, so probably don't need to try that again.' They've proven that they can do it," Boyer said. "You've got to play aggressive. We weren't hitting the ball today so we were trying to make them make some plays and they made those plays, so you have to just give your hats off to that."
Emilee Cheek was 3 for 3 with a run and an RBI to lead the Mules. It was her first multi-hit game. Gregory was 2 for 4 with a run as Poplar Bluff finished with eight hits.
Lauren Alexander allowed six hits and no walks with a season high 13 strikeouts in the win.
It's her first double-digit strikeout game after she had nine in Poplar Bluff's most recent game against Sikeston. It was also the first game this season where Alexander didn't allow a walk.
Alexander struck out the side in the fourth inning and then three in a row in the sixth after allowing a leadoff error. Those three strikeouts also stranded a Chaffee insurance run at third base. Alexander allowed one hit and two total baserunners after the third inning.
"We've made a lot of good plays, but we've also made some errors, which we need to work on. But overall (our defense) has been pretty good," Morgan Courtney said.
Chaffee's Sydney Walker struck out four and allowed two walks in the loss.
"I just thought our pitcher did a pretty good job of keeping them off balance. She wasn't sharp today, had a few walks," Horrell said. "We just made some boo-boos defensively and all-in-all, she did a good enough job to keep us in the game and she deserved a lot better fate."