By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
PURVIS – They’ve reached the halfway point in the Region 7-4 softball schedule, and the defending champions couldn’t be in better shape.
Sumrall took advantage of three Purvis errors, while overcoming two miscues of their own in a 6-4 victory Tuesday night at the Purvis Softball Complex.
The win leaves the Bobcats 5-0 in region play (12-5 overall), and two games clear of the field in the region standings. Purvis dropped to 11-3 and 3-2.
“We’re certainly excited to be in the position we’re in,” said Sumrall coach Dodie Robertson. “We’re undefeated in the (region), and it has been a process. Tonight was evidence of that.
“We’ve been trying to improve each game, and we are improving. It didn’t look like it at times tonight, but we’ve made plays when we needed to.”
Sumrall lost several standouts from last season’s squad that advanced to the Class 4A State Championship Series, falling to Kosciusko in the finals.
“We’ve played a few ‘clean’ games in a row that’s made me think, OK, we’ve finally turned the corner,” Robertson said. “But tonight at times the wheels fell off. Still, I’m super excited to be where we are right now.”
The Bobcats’ youth showed on a few occasions against Purvis, notably in the bottom of the first inning, when the Tornadoes scored an unearned run off sophomore right-hander Avery Smith for an early lead.
Freshman Tiyah Evans drew a walk leading off the inning, stole second and scored on a throwing error on a slow roller to the pitching circle off the bat of eighth-grader Ally Reynolds. She promptly stole second, then third, still with no outs..
But Smith got her bearing after the shaky start, got a called third strike and two infield popups to leave Reynolds stranded at third.
“Avery’s a little superstar in the making,” said Robertson. “Sometimes, she has to take a deep breath out there. She started getting flustered when they started getting a few hits, but she was able to calm down and get the job done.”
Smith showed off a wide array of pitches – fastball, screwball, change-up, even a curveball – but had to adjust when the strike zone wasn’t quite to her liking.
“I was struggling a little bit at the start, because I knew this was a big one for us,” said Smith. “We needed to win this one to put ourselves in the driver’s seat in the region, so I just dug deep and got it done.”
Things started unraveling for Purvis in the top of the third, when Sumrall scored twice to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Freshman Kara Applewhite, batting in the 9-spot in the batting order, led off with a walk off Tornado senior starter Hannah Lower.
Lower got a flyball out, but Bobcat junior Brandi Bond smacked a tailing flyball to right-centerfield that Purvis centerfielder Claire Kyzar got to but couldn’t bring in, putting runners at second and third after the error.
The tying run came home on a flyball behind second base, then junior Brette Loftin drove in the go-ahead run with a single up the middle.
“We have three losses this season that goes down to one inning in each game,” said Purvis coach Lindsey Robertson. “We’ve got to eliminate that.
“I thought we had some calls that didn’t go our way that hurt us, but I’ve told the girls that’s not something we can control. We can control what we do. But that’s something we’ve got to work on.”
The Bobcats added to their lead with two more runs in the top of the fourth, both coming after Lower got two quick infield popups on two pitches.
But Applewhite singled up the middle and freshman Ella Robertson hit a groundball to third for an infield single and both runners advanced when the throw to first was overthrown.
Bond then drilled a sharp single to leftfield to drive both runners home and put Sumrall ahead 4-1.
“I went up there relaxed and looked for my pitch,” said Bond. “It was just a matter of putting the ball in play so our runners could score.”
Purvis battled back in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run rally of its own.
Freshman Aubrey Easley drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a ground ball to third. A throw from third on a slow roller off the bat of sophomore Chelsea Regan skipped away from first base to put a second runner on base.
Both runners scored on back-to-back singles up the middle from Lower and junior Ava Williford. A walk loaded the bases, but Smith left them that way on a flare to Bond at second for the third out of the inning.
“It’s really just a thing with our mentality, our confidence,” said Bond. “Just trying to find that and working through it. For me, I’ve been in the program now four years, and I feel like my job is to instill confidence in my teammates and be a leader.”
Purvis’ third error of the game allowed Sumrall to score a run in the top of the fifth. Senior Summer Powers and eighth-grader Kynnedy Lumpkins drew walks with one out to set the inning in motion.
Freshman Mallory Pope hit a sacrifice bunt to third and the run scored on a throwing error, with Lumpkins racing to third. A steal put runners at second and third and the Bobcats appeared poised for more.
But the Tornadoes got out of the inning on a bizarre play that included a dropped third strike and a throw to third that amounted to a pickoff play.
Sophomore pinch-hitter Laura Smith swung through a pitch for the third strike. Instead of throwing to first base, Purvis sophomore catcher Allee Williamson threw to third base to nab Lumpkins who had drifted off the base hoping to take advantage of a throw to first.
And the batter was ruled out when Smith left the bag and turned toward the dugout after reaching first base, the ruling being she gave herself up as an out. Weird, but effective for Purvis.
The Tornadoes got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Regan led off with a single to left. A walk moved the runner to second and the run came in on and RBI single by Williford, and she took second when the throw went to third.
But Avery Smith, the Sumrall ace, kept the tying and go-ahead runs on base with a pair of flyball outs.
“Overall, I thought our defense was superb,” said Dodie Robertson. “Our outfield played a perfect game tonight, and those are all players in new positions for us. That’s one of the processes that we’ve been working through. They played great back there.”
The Bobcats gave Smith an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Junior Ashlyn Burkhalter led off with a single and Loftin followed with another single.
The Tornadoes got the lead runner at third on a force out, but the runner took third on a throw from third to try to get Powers at first. Lumpkins got the run home on a sacrifice fly.
Smith was sitting on 103 pitches, unofficially, when she went out for the bottom of the seventh. But she pitched around a hit batter to secure the win, improving her record to 9-3 for the season. She scattered six hits, struck out two, walked four and only one run was earned.
“After the sixth inning, I was a little shaken up, because I don’t usually walk a lot of batters,” said Smith. “I just knew we had to get three more outs.”
Both teams face a quick turnaround with games Thursday on the road. Sumrall travels to Poplarville, while Purvis faces Forrest County AHS.
“These girls need to learn how to flip that switch and convince themselves they can win this game,” said Lindsey Robertson. “In my opinion we gave the game away tonight, and we can’t do that.”
Prep Softball Linescore
Tuesday at Purvis
Sumrall 6, Purvis 4
Sumrall 002 210 1 – 6 9 2
Purvis 100 201 0 – 4 6 3
SUMRALL (12-5, 5-0 in 7-4A): Ella Robertson 1B; Brandi Bond 2 1B; Ashlyn Hurkhalter 2 1B; Brette Loftin 2-1B; Kara Applewhite 1B. WP – Avery Smith (9-3)
PURVIS (11-3, 3-2 in 7-4A): Aubrey Easley 1B; Chelsea Regan 1B; Hanna Lower 1B; Ava Williford 2 1B; Abby Smith 1B. LP – Hannah Lower. Also pitching – Chelsea Regan.
Photos courtesy of Van Johnson Tyner
