Sumrall-Purvis a Battle Between Two Playoff Contenders
The stands at Larry Knight Stadium in Sumrall, Mississippi were packed with students, parents and fans on Friday night as the hometown Sumrall Bobcats faced the visiting Purvis Tornadoes in an important matchup for both teams. Sumrall emerged victorious on the night with a 7-4 win, but there were interesting moments and offense to go around for both teams.
“This was a big week for us,” Sumrall head coach Larry Knight said. “We got swept by them [Purvis] last year, kind of put us in a little tail spin. This year we’ve felt like if we could get into this week with a good record, we’d hopefully have a good shot at winning it [the division]. We’ve still got four division games left. Forrest County [Agricultural] is playing better, of course, Lawrence County has won some big games.”
In a geographic area where many schools are known for their baseball programs this year, namely Hattiesburg High School, Oak Grove High School and Lumberton High School. Sumrall and Purvis are two other schools who join the ranks of the other schools mentioned.
Both Purvis and Sumrall have experienced periods of success on the diamond in the immediate past as well. For Purvis, it is a winning record to start 2019 after a 23-6 record in 2018, which came off the heels of a 9-14 record in 2017.
For Sumrall, it’s a legacy of winning. As a program, the Bobcats are five-time MHSAA Class 3A state champions, winning championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2015. Additionally, Sumrall has taken the South State (regional) championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2015. In 2009, the Bobcats finished the season with a perfect 36-0 record and that team was featured in an article on ESPN.com. Now, Sumrall and Purvis are big names in Region 7 in the 4A division in the MHSAA.
Following a 23-9 season which ended with a playoff loss to West Lauderdale in 2018, Sumrall is now 17-3 on the 2019 season with six games left to play in the regular season.
The Friday night matchup was the second game between the two teams over the span of a week. Sumrall travelled to Purvis for the first matchup on March 26 and took the first game between the two teams by a score of 5-2.
While Purvis took to the diamond looking to get revenge in the second contest, it was Sumrall that struck first in the contest. After Sumrall starting pitcher Hunter Barrett held Purvis scoreless in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the first, Purvis pitcher Dakota Lee struck out Sumrall senior Dannis Jackson, Sumrall took a quick 2-0 lead, thanks in part to an RBI hit from fellow senior Billy Garrity that drove in a run, while Barrett scored on offense on a passed ball play.
The two teams battled through a scoreless second inning, but Sumrall scored again in the bottom of the third inning to add another run to the team’s lead. While senior catcher Graham Crawford hit into a double play situation, the play allowed Dannis Jackson to score, giving Sumrall a run with two outs in the inning.
Purvis finally found some momentum in the top of the fourth inning. Leadoff batter junior Jesse Johnson slammed a solo home run to right field. The Tornadoes went on to collect two more solo home runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings, making it three consecutive innings that Purvis scored on a solo home run.
Junior Damon Piercy hit a home run to left field in the fifth, while Hayden Williamson hit the team’s final home run to left field to open the sixth inning.
Knight talked about Purvis’ three home runs following the game.
“Solo home runs, I told them after the game, normally don’t beat you, unless you give up a whole bunch of them,” Knight said. Three [home runs] is, of course more than you want to give up, but when you put up a good spot like we did, you know, we certainly weren’t going to try to walk them and then give them an opportunity to hit a two-run or three-run shot. We wanted to compete and throw strikes after we got that lead and they had some good barrels on the ball.”
Following Johnson’s home run for the Tornadoes, Sumrall added three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Back-to-back RBI singles and a two-out steal of home plate by Barrett gave the Bobcats a 6-1 advantage over Purvis.
Despite the two Purvis home runs in the fifth and sixth innings that cut into the Sumrall lead, the Bobcats’ Marshall Phillips scored the team’s final run of the game on a Purvis error in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, Sumrall’s defense forced two quick outs, but Purvis responded with some life offensively. Two consecutive singles were followed by an RBI single from senior Parker Sharff that brought Mason Kendrick home, cutting Sumrall’s lead to 7-4. However, Sumrall relief pitcher John Cody Stogner recorded a strikeout to earn the win for the Bobcats and improve to 16-3 on the season.
Purvis committed three errors in the contest, something head coach Tony Farlow talked about cleaning up heading into the rest of the season.
“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, they’re going to make you pay for it, and that’s what I think happened tonight. Walks and errors, they made us pay.”
On the mound for Sumrall, Barrett pitched five full innings on the mound and allowed six hits, including the three Purvis home runs, while also walking three batters and striking out two.
Knight talked about how Barrett got out of pitching jams in the contest.
“I think it was just one of those things that Hunter didn’t let it ever get to him and blow up and start walking guys,” Knight said. He’s a senior and he’s been out there a lot.”
Aside from the final score on the scoreboard, Purvis actually outhit Sumrall 9-7 in the contest. Johnson led the Tornadoes at the plate by going 3-for-3 with an RBI. Senior Dawson Lawler had a 2-for-3 night at the plate, the only other multi-hit performance for the team.
Following Friday’s contest, both teams turned around to face other opponents on Saturday. Sumrall bested Mize by a score of 10-0 to improve to 17-3 on the season, while Purvis rebounded from the Sumrall loss to take a 12-6 win over Perry Central, giving the team a 10-7-1 record, according to calculations made on MaxPreps at the time.
While the rivalry between the two teams is closed for now this season, the task for both teams is finishing strong in region play. Sumrall currently sits atop the leaderboard with a 5-3 record in Region 7. Just behind them are Poplarville with a 4-3 record, and then Purvis, Lawrence County, Greene County and Forrest County Agricultural in that order.
For third-place Purvis, the goal now is to im prove its standing as much as it can with six regular season games to go.
“We’ve got our work cut out,” Farlow said. “I just told the kids, right now we’re probably playing for second place [in the region] and it’s a very realistic goal, but by the same token if you don’t hurry up and start winning some ballgames, you’re batting just to get in the playoffs.
Up next on the schedule for Sumrall is a home game against 4-11 Forrest County Agricultural on April 2 at 6:30 p.m. Purvis faces off against Greene County on the road on April 2 at 6:30 as well.
