PURVIS – There were a lot of numbers that jumped out from Sumrall and Purvis' Thursday night game.
The first was 31 free bases issued, as the two teams walked a combined 28 batters and hit three others. The second was how the Bobcats drove in 10 of their runs with two outs, which proved to be the deciding factor in Sumrall's 12-10 extra-inning win over Purvis to end the Tornadoes' 8-game win streak.
"You can't imagine how big this win was," Sumrall coach Andy Davis said. "Going down 0-2 to a very good Purvis team puts us behind the 8-ball a lot, especially if you want the division, get home-field advantage in the playoffs, and things like that. If they swept us, it would have been tough to overcome."
Sumrall catcher Walker Long hit a 2-run no-doubt home run over the left field wall. It was the start of an elite night for Long, who reached base in every at-bat, as he finished the game 3-for-3 with four RBIs and drew two walks.
"I didn't know it was gone, to be honest, and everyone was surprised by that because they said it was hit a long way," Long said. "But I did not think it was gone.
"The first pitch was off speed, and on the second pitch, I knew the fastball was coming. He left it up, and I laid back and drove it."
After Long's home run, all of Sumrall's runs scored with two outs.
"It was two outs, and it was two strikes when they hit," Purvis coach Tony Farlow said. I felt like we were a lot of times one pitch away from getting out of it. You have to give them credit because they put the bat on the ball and made a play.
"It was disappointing that we could not throw strikes tonight. We have done it in the last eight games. It's why we were winning. Sumrall did (walked) about as much as we did. That's why it was a nip and tuck game."
Purvis (10-5, 1-1) walked 13 batters and hit one, while Sumrall (10-4, 1-1) walked 15 and two batters.
Yet Sumrall jumped ahead 3-0 by the second inning, but in the bottom of the frame, the Tornados got on the board after Sumrall's starting pitcher Leo Odom walked the bases loaded and walked in a run with another scoring on a fielder's choices. One of the reasons for the 28 combined walks was due to an inconsistent strike zone that both sides struggled to deal with. By the end of the night, both sides combined for eight pitching changes.
"The strike zone was different tonight," Long said. "I'm not going to say if it was good or bad for either team, but it was different all night. I had to keep calm because there were a couple of times when I really wanted to get aggravated. You just can't do that as a catcher.
"Odom was throwing really good, but then there were was a couple of pitches that were very close that I thought were strikes. It flusters him a little bit because he is getting strikes all day and then doesn't get them anymore. You have to calm (the pitcher) down and do what you can because it's a bunch of young guys. We'll calm down and understand the moment next time. There are things you can't control in baseball, and that's one of them."
Regardless, Purvis maintained the momentum and took the lead after plating four runs in the fourth inning in the first of six lead changes. Odom walked the bases loaded before getting pulled, but it set up back-to-back RBI singles for Damon Putnam and Ethan Walker to make the score 6-4.
Both sides traded runs in the fifth, with Sumrall scoring three and Purvis scoring two, which left Purvis holding an 8-7 lead. The biggest highlight in the inning was a solo home run from Jojo Parker that sailed over the right field wall.
Sumrall took a 10-8 lead in the top of the sixth after Holliman and Long hit a pair of RBI singles. Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Bobcats walked the bases loaded with no outs. Putnam drove in a run for Purvis on a fielder's choice, yet Sumrall managed to get a pair of outs in the inning. Despite the pressure situation, Walker, who was 3-for-5 with four RBI, tied the game with an RBI single to send it to extra innings.
Sumrall's answered right back in the eighth inning, but this time got help from Purvis as shortstop Jojo Parker misfired a routine groundball and allowed two Bobcats to score with two outs.
"He got that little in-between short hop, and I think it changed his throwing emotion," Farlow said. "That was huge because we could have gotten out of the inning still tied, but that's baseball.
"I'm proud of them because they fought back. We got down 3-0 and fought back. We had several opportunities to add to our lead. It's just disappointing to give stuff away. When you walk and hit batters, then you are giving stuff away. I'd rather give up 15 hits and then 15 walks any day."
