Purdy in a win one, lose one phase

Jordan Courter tries to beat the throw home, encouraged by teammate Trey Hughes, who had just scored a run. Kyle Troutman/editor@cassville-democrat.com

Eagles top Cassville at home, best East Newton in tourney

The Purdy baseball team is hoping to get off the roller coaster this week after going win-loss-win-loss since last Monday.

The Eagles (4-2) were part of two 15-run games on March 28 and 29, winning one but losing the second.

Travis Hughes connects on a pitch in a win over Cassville last week. Kyle Troutman/editor@cassville-democrat.com

The Eagles defeated Cassville 15-0 in three innings, garnering 10 hits in the process. Ezequiel Garcia led with 3 hits and 4 RBI. Zach Henderson and Travis Hughes each had 2 RBI, and Hughes pitched all three innings, striking out 4.

In a 15-5 loss to Marionville on Tuesday, the Eagles fell behind early and couldn’t make up the ground. Purdy had 6 hits to the Comets’ 15.

In the Monett Tournament over the weekend, Purdy picked up a win over East Newton, 8-7, plating runs in the first and second before extending the lead to 5-0 with a 3-run third.

Purdy’s Matthew Cornelius slides safely into second base during a 15-0 win over Cassville last week. Kyle Troutman/editor@cassville-democrat.com

East Newton won the second half of the game, but the Patriots failed to produce a tying run in the seventh. Purdy had 7 hits to East Newton’s 5, and both teams had 6 errors.

Josh Brown led at the plate with 2 hits and 3 RBI. Ezequiel Garcia pitched four innings, striking out 10 batters.

In Saturday’s final contest, the Eagles led 4-1 after four innings, but gave up 3 in the fifth and another 5 in the seventh to fall to Seneca, 9-4. The Indians out-hit the Eagles in that game, 7-3, and they had no errors to Purdy’s 3.

Travis Hughes tosses a pitch during a win over Cassville. Kyle Troutman/editor@cassville-democrat.com

Travis Hughes pitched 4.2 innings, striking out 2. Hits went to Travis Hughes, Trey Hughes and Hunter Lee, with Travis Hughes and Lee also getting RBIs.

Joshua Hughes, Purdy baseball coach, said over those games, he saw some areas the Eagles can improve.

“We have to get better on defense,” he said. “With all this rain lately, when we get on the field, we are playing games. We need to take some ground balls. Saturday we had 8 errors. Our pitching wasn’t bad, but we had the lead over East Newton and they tied it, and we has a lead on Seneca and lost it.”

Hughes said although Purdy did not get a lot of hits, the Eagles did take advantage when they could.

“When we got walks or they had errors and we got baserunners, we did get some timely hits,” he said. “That has been a benefit of bing indoors in our cage so much is that it helps with getting a rhythm at the plate.”

Purdy hits the road this week, facing Sparta on Thursday and Jasper on Friday.

“We need a mix of everything to get two wins,” Hughes said. “We are dealing with some injuries, so we will have some guys in different positions. But, our guys are stepping up, especially the pitchers. We have to do a good job executing on offense and making plays on defense.”