PURVIS – Teams that have championship aspirations make championship plays in clutch moments in big games.
And in a Lamar County softball showdown between Purvis and Sumrall on Monday night at the Purvis Softball Complex, it was the visiting Bobcats who made the plays in crunch time.
Sumrall pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning and made them stand up in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 victory in the Region 7-4A opener for both teams.
The Bobcats improved to 7-3 overall, while the Tornadoes (5-5) lost their third consecutive game and fifth in their last six games.
“Kind of weird to have the first district game against Purvis,” said Sumrall coach Todd Siders. “I think it’s a testament to how good softball is in this area right now. Purvis is a really solid club, and they do a lot of things right. It’s probably going to come down to us and them again.”
This was a taut pitcher’s duel for most of the contest between the two most recent South State champions in Class 4A, as seniors Avery Smith for Sumrall and Chelsea Regan for Purvis matched zeroes through the first four and a half innings.
“I thrive under pressure, but Purvis is a really good hitting team,” said Smith. “It’s very hard and you have to stay focused, especially in a tight game like it was tonight.
“Staying ahead of the hitters keeps my pitch count down, then throwing the first pitch for strikes is very important. Statistics say you get more outs when you throw the first pitch for a strike.”
The Tornadoes got runners to second base in three of the first four innings, but couldn’t get a run home, while the Bobcats didn’t even get a runner to second until the fifth, when they loaded the bases but failed to score.
“I was definitely getting outside with my curveball and with the riseball,” said Regan. “Playing in tight games is more mentally tough than physically. We train physically to get through seven innings, and extra innings if that happens, but mentally, it’s a lot more difficult.”
Purvis finally broke through for a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but that was also when the Tornadoes started making little mistakes that would cost them big in the late innings.
“We played hard, but there were some situations where the ball didn’t bounce our way, and that’s our fault” said Purvis coach Lindsey Robertson. “You’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some, but like I told my girls, it’s far from over.
“It’s just been little things, little things to clear up. It’s still early, and we have some things we need to clean up. We need to stay focused and finish it out to the end.”
With one out, sophomore Claire Kyzar drew a walk and sophomore Lily Reynolds singled. Senior Allee Williamson smashed a double over the head of Sumrall freshman leftfielder Kynlee Speed. One run scored, but Reynolds was tagged out trying to score from first base.
After an intentional walk to put the force into effect, Smith got out of the jam with a groundball to second.
“Their pitcher did a really good job of hitting her spots and keeping us off-balance,” said Siders. “It was a really weird game. We had some luck. They hit some balls hard and we made some plays. We found some holes here and there.
“We went into the season knowing we had to be really good on the margins. We have to be aggressive and make teams beat us. The kids made some plays tonight, and they’ll tell you they left some plays out there that they should have made.”
Another mistake in the top of the sixth allowed the Bobcats to tie the game after Speed led off the inning with a bloop single to shallow rightfield.
Freshman Taniya Preston, pinch-running for Speed, stole second, but was picked off second by Regan only for the throw from second base to skip past third base into the Purvis dugout to score the run.
Regan got out of the inning with no further damage, but the Tornadoes were set down in order in the bottom of the sixth, and a two-out single in the seventh went for naught. Sumrall got its leadoff batter on, but nothing came of that and the game went into extra innings.
“The change-up has really developed for her this year,” said Siders. “It’s really helped her fastball. She’s always been able to pitch in and she gets good movement on her pitches.
“I think committing to Holmes was a monkey off her back, and it’s allowed her to just throw nice and easy. When she hits her spots, she’s very hard to hit.”
The Tornadoes second error of the game proved the killer. Under the international tiebreaker rule, the Bobcats started the eighth with a runner at second in speedy sophomore Kynnedy Lumpkins.
Regan’s first pitch of the inning was a groundball off the bat of junior Kara Applewhite that was misplayed, allowing Lumpkins to reach third. Junior shortstop Aubrey Easley made an alert pay on a groundball from Speed to get Lumpkins at the plate for the first out.
After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Sumrall got the one hit that mattered most, a bloop single by sophomore Asleigh Whiddon to shallow leftfield to drive in the go-ahead run.
The Bobcats tacked on an insurance run when the runner beat the throw to the plate on a slow roller to third with the bases still loaded.
Regan drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth, but Smith made a stabbing grab at a sharply-hit comebacker to the circle and doubled up the runner off first base for the final out of the game.
“Hitting is something we’ve been trying to work through,” said Robertson. “At times, it looks really good, at other times we’re kind of lacking in that area. We’ve got to be working to be more consistent.
“Chelsea gave us what we needed; we’ve just got to be better at the plate.”
Regan (5-3) allowed six hits, struck out seven, walked four and hit a batter. Smith (4-2) also allowed six hits, struck out four and walked four. And she was a lot more economical with her pitches, needing just 103, while Regan used 143 over her eight innings of work.
“The curveball has a been big for me,” said Smith. “Me and my dad have worked on that a lot in the past year. The change-up has also been a really big pitch for me. I don’t throw 65 a lot, so having an off-speed makes my fastball better.
“Since I’m not a strikeout pitcher, having a change-up that they can hit into the ground or pop up is very important.”
Siders doesn’t have many players left from the Bobcats’ South State team from 2023, with just four seniors on the roster, but Smith is one of them.
“It’s crazy,” said Smith. “All the leaders before me were just such great role models. It’s awesome to be in that position.”
Purvis is on the road Thursday for a region contest at Columbia, while Sumrall is at home Thursday hosting Forrest County AHS.
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