SUMRALL – The Purvis Tornadoes outhit the Sumrall Bobcats and smashed three home runs Friday night, but it still wasn’t enough to take down their rivals.
The Bobcats took advantage of three Purvis errors, played small ball to perfection and got the timely hits when they needed it to beat Purvis 7-4 and sweep the two-game season series.
“Solo home runs normally don’t beat you unless you give up a whole bunch of them,” Sumrall coach Larry Knight said. “Three is more than you want to give up. We certainly weren’t going to try and walk them to give them an opportunity to hit a two-run or three-run shot.”
While Purvis recorded nine hits in the contest to Sumrall’s seven, three were solo home runs and only one hit came with a runner in scoring position. The Tornadoes left seven runners on base, too, and two were left on in the top of the seventh inning with the tying run at the plate.
The lack of timely hits was an issue Tuesday night against Sumrall, and it bit the Tornadoes again Friday night.
“Timely hits, that’s something we haven’t seen a lot of the last three or four games,” Purvis coach Tony Farlow said. “I was just proud of our guys for fighting.”
Purvis’ three homers came from Jesse Johnson, Damon Piercy and Hayden Williamson in consecutive innings, and it kept the Tornadoes within striking distance.
The Bobcats, on the other hand, began the game with clutch hitting. After Zane Berry singled and Graham Crawford walked with one out in the first inning, Billy Garrity came through with an RBI double before courtesy runner Hayden Barrett scored on a passed ball. That gave Sumrall an early 2-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, leading 3-1, Sumrall manufactured some offense with a hit-and-run play, safety squeeze and a delayed steal with runners on the corners. Hunter Barrett singled with Javan William in motion, then Mason Story picked up an RBI with a single of his own.
During the next at-bat, Sully Clark laid down a bunt toward first base, and courtesy runner Marshall Phillips broke for home. With the ball in no-mans-land between Purvis pitcher Dakota Lee and first baseman Williamson, Clark reached safely to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Clark attempted his delayed steal to second, which promoted a throw, and pinch runner Hayden Barrett scored on the play to give Sumrall a 6-1 lead.
“We work a lot on that stuff,” Knight said. “We don’t really have a lot of opportunities to do it because we have some guys who can hit and hit with power. We kind of had the right guys up at the right time.”
After two more home runs by Purvis hitters, Sumrall added to its lead in the sixth inning when Berry sent a hard hit ground ball to second base. The Tornadoes’ third error came on that play, and all three errors in the game resulted in Bobcat runs.
“We’ve had periods this year where we’ve made errors,” Farlow said. “Against a team like Sumrall, you can’t give up very much or they will make you pay for it. I think that’s what happened.”
The Tornadoes did have one final chance in the seventh. Parker Sharff singled with two runners on base, which was the only hit with runners in scoring position, and that made it 7-4. However, a strikeout ended the game with the tying run at the plate.
Story led the Bobcats’ offense with two hits, while five others added hits. Purvis’ Johnson had a 3-for-3 performance, and Dawson Lawler recorded two more hits.
Sumrall sits atop of the Region 7-4A standings with a 5-1 record, which is a game better than Poplarville and two games over Purvis. The Bobcats now have the tiebreaker over both of those teams with two games each against Forrest County AHS and Lawrence County.
“This was a big week for us,” Knight said. “Last year, we got swept by them and it put us in a tailspin and finished in second place. We feel good about where we are right now. We just know we have to focus on what we have left.”
Purvis is third in the standings with a 3-3 record and two-game series with Greene County and Poplarville left on the schedule.
