PURVIS – After coming into the season as defending state champions in Class 4A, Sumrall has been somewhat underwhelming at times this season.
But with their backs against the wall and facing an 0-2 start to Region 7-4A play, the Bobcats turned to some of that championship mettle, gutting out a thrilling 3-2 victory over Purvis Friday night at Tony Farlow Field.
The Bobcats (12-6 overall) rallied to even their region record at 1-1 after losing Tuesday at Sumrall 16-7 in the first game of the two-game region series. Purvis dropped to 13-5 and 1-1.
“It’s huge in the region standings for us,” said Sumrall head coach Andy Davis. “We’ve only got four teams in our region, so any time you can knock off one of the top teams, like they did us, it helps your seeding. The better seed you get, the better road you get in postseason.”
The Tornadoes, who won the 4A state title in 2023 and have ambitions to win it again this season, let a 2-0 lead get away from them in the final two innings, when the Bobcats scored a run in the sixth and two in the seventh.
“It was (championship-level baseball), but it was kind of a quiet, dead atmosphere for about five innings,” said Purvis coach Tony Farlow. “There was just no offense. But I didn’t ever think two runs would win it for us, and it worked out that way.”
Purvis senior right-hander JoJo Parker and Bobcat sophomore lefty Rowan Atkinson matched zeros until the Tornadoes scored both of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. What scoring chances there were in the first three-plus innings belonged to Sumrall.
“Purvis is good, and we were in the game all the way to the fifth inning,” said Davis. “We just had to finish the game.”
The Bobcats got a runner to third in the top of the first after two were out when senior Landon Hawkins was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by junior Braelyn Harrison. But Parker got a strikeout to end the inning.
A big defensive play in the third kept Sumrall off the scoreboard after senior Kellen Garcia led off the inning with a double inside the leftfield line.
A strikeout and a hit batter brought Hawkins to the plate, and he hit a single into shallow leftfield. Davis challenged Tornado sophomore leftfielder Paxton Cooper by sending the runner home, and Cooper fired a strike to nail Garcia at the plate.
Purvis broke the scoreless deadlock in the fourth when senior Jacob Parker beat out an infield single up the middle to lead off the inning, the first hit of the game for the Tornadoes.
Parker stole second, and with one out, junior Hudson Walker stroked an RBI single into left. Senior Cannon Turner got Walker home from first with a towering double off the wall in right-centerfield with two out.
But Atkinson kept the damage to two runs, and he looked to be in control in the fifth, getting two quick outs to open the inning.
“The left-hander just had us all off-balance,” said Farlow. “We have faced a ton of left-handers this year, and while we haven’t lit them all up, we thought we were prepared for it.
“But he did a good job of keeping us off-balance, and we had too many guys in the lineup with strikeouts tonight.”
Trouble for Atkinson arose when JoJo Parker coaxed a walk on a 3-2 pitch with two out. Atkinson’s first pitch to Jacob Parker went wide of the plate for a wild pitch, and Sumrall quickly put Jacob on with an intentional walk.
Atkinson’s next pitch was also wild, as he went down in pain after releasing the ball. He tried to walk it off, but was forced to the dugout with the injury. Davis turned to Garcia, who moved from second base to the mound.
Inheriting a 1-0 count on Tornado senior Ethan Walker, Garcia ran the count full, then froze Walker with a slider on the inside corner of the plate for an inning-ending strikeout.
“It was crazy,” said Garcia. “After the walk on the 3-2 pitch, then the wild pitch where Rowan got hurt, I knew I had to get the guy out. It was a big moment.
“My slider was dialed in all night, and I was able to get it over whenever I needed it. This was just grit. We’re a gritty bunch. We kept fighting, and it paid off.”
Garcia silenced the Tornadoes in the sixth, working around a two-out walk, then left JoJo Parker stranded at second after a two-out double, finishing the game with his fifth strikeout in 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to even his record at 1-1.
“(Atkinson) is going to be OK,” said Davis. “He stubbed his toe on that delivery and it hurt to push off that foot. And, honestly, he wasn’t going to be out there much longer anyway, because of pitch count.
“Kellen grew up tonight. Coming in from second base cold and getting a win like that is not easy to do in this atmosphere.”
It may not have mattered, the way JoJo Parker threw the ball. Parker (2-2) struck out 10 batters, walked none, but did have three hit batters. He allowed eight hits, four in the final two innings.
“JoJo had a really good game for us,” said Farlow. “I told someone in the dugout during the game that if we’re going to win tonight, it will be because of JoJo, because offensively, we’ve done nothing.”
The first chink in Parker’s armor came to open the top of the sixth, when Hawkins smoked a 2-0 fastball over the right-centerfield fence for an opposite-field home run.
“Exactly, that was huge for us, to get off that zero,” said Davis. “Any time you do that, it’s big. He’s our sparkplug, and once he hit that homer, we relaxed a little bit, because that zero wasn’t up there anymore.”
Sumrall’s winning rally in the seventh started with the bottom of the batting order. Senior Caden Cochran led off with a single down the leftfield line and Garcia, in the 9-hole, sacrificed the runner to second.
Freshman Drew Davis drove a single into leftfield to drive in the tying run, but it looked like Parker might get out of it with just the one run when senior Cadyn Williamson cracked a sharp liner into Parker’s glove, with Davis caught off the bag after bolting toward second.
But Parker’s motion caused him to slip and his throw to first was high, allowing Davis to get back safely. A hit batter moved Davis to second, and he scored when Harrison jumped on the first pitch and drove it into leftfield.
Once again, Cooper fired a throw home that was on-line to the plate, but a bit high, and Davis slid under the tag for the go-ahead run.
“He struck me out on two straight ABs with a curveball,” said Harrison. “I just wanted to be aggressive early, slow the game down and do what I do. He gave me a fastball, and I made sure I didn’t miss it.
“This is big-time for us. We’re continuing to get better every day, and I think we’ll keep getting better as the season goes along.”
Both teams will take the weekend off then resume region play next week. Sumrall is at Columbia on Tuesday, then hosts the Wildcats on Friday. Purvis is at Forrest County AHS Tuesday, then home against the Aggies on Friday.
“Our goal was to win our region and be the No. 1 seed,” said Farlow. “We still have that opportunity. But we’ve got Columbia and Forrest County, and we’ve got to take care of business.
“But at the end of the year, who makes it to South State is the team that’s playing the best baseball then.”
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