Purdy baseball team still chasing elusive district title

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

Purdy Baseball Coach Joshua Hughes said the Eagles’ 27-win season was about far more than victories, pointing to the growth of his players on and off the field as the program’s biggest accomplishment.

“We were very, very successful,” Hughes said. “Not only in the win column and the player accolades and everything, but just in the growth of young men and the growth of baseball players and individuals. It was just an awesome year. We got to see a lot of things happen. We had a lot of kids do well in the classroom, they’re part of other organizations like FFA, and it’s just nice to see them be able to do more than just baseball.”

The Eagles finished 27-2-1, won the final Southwest Central League championship before the conference dissolved, and reached the district title game for a third straight season. While Purdy fell shy of its goal of a district championship, falling to Class 2 third-place finisher Miller, 4-0, Hughes said the season remained one to celebrate.

“They were super successful at 27-2-1,” Hughes said. “We had a goal to win a district title, and we came up short. The thing is, their pitcher was just better than ours that day, or better than our offense was that day.”

Hughes credited much of the team’s success to the confidence it developed after buying into changes implemented months before the season began.

“The confidence,” Hughes said. “That’s one of those things. We started in August and we told them we were going to change some things. We were going to change some philosophies. Early on in August, they were not bought in, but by the time the end of fall came around and then when we started in the spring, their confidence in what we were trying to accomplish, how we were going about that and the process of it, they had complete confidence in that.”

That belief eventually translated into success on the field.

“When you have the confidence in the practices and the confidence in the process, the games just become easy,” Hughes said. “The games are fun. That’s what we tell them. We’re going to work our tails off in practice, but the game should be fun.”

Finding areas to improve after a 27-win season isn’t easy, Hughes admitted, but he believes increasing the team’s overall strength can help the Eagles take the next step.

“It’s so hard to talk about improvement when you win 27 games in a spring, conference champions,” Hughes said. “I guess we could be nitpicky and say maybe we could get a little bit more improvement when it comes to the strength of our guys. We’ve already started implementing some of that this summer.”

Hughes said the emphasis is on becoming stronger throughout the lineup.

“Our bat speed, our strength, our durability, just things like that that can lead to better all-around baseball,” he said. “We can be stronger in our lower half, stronger in our arms and shoulders to help maybe prevent tiredness or fatigue. 

“The strength is probably the only area that I could see that really needed to be improved compared to the other areas of what we did and what we accomplished.”

Two early-season games helped convince Hughes his team was capable of competing with anyone on its schedule.

One came in the Purdy Tournament against Hartville.

“We were playing Hartville at our place in the Purdy Tournament, and it was for first place,” Hughes said. “Our guy pitched extremely well, their guy pitched extremely well, and we got beat 2-1

“I can remember as coaches and as players we kind of looked at it and said, ‘OK, we got beat, but we’re there.’ We can compete with good teams.”

Another defining moment came when Purdy battled Seneca to a 1-1 tie over nine innings.

“I thought the Seneca game, us tying with them 1-1 in nine innings, was huge,” Hughes said. “They were ranked fourth in Class 4, and we came in and went toe-to-toe with them.”

Hughes believes the game could have gone much longer had both teams not needed to leave for prom.

“I don’t know if we ever finish that game,” Hughes said. “I think both teams weren’t going to give up any runs. We probably would have played 15 or 16 innings that day. To be able to compete with them, I thought that was a huge step for our guys.”

While the Eagles had talented seniors, Hughes said what made the class special was its willingness to lead in different ways.

“This group of seniors was a good group baseball-wise, but they’re good young men,” Hughes said. “They were good leaders. Whether it was through their work ethic, the way they practiced, the way they played, or if it was just kind of a vocal leader in the dugout, we had all types of leaders in the senior class.”

Hughes also praised one senior who was unable to play after transferring back to Purdy but still found a way to contribute.

“One of our seniors was unable to play this year due to transferring back to Purdy late,” Hughes said. “He wanted to be the manager, and I’m like, absolutely. By the end of the year, it was like having another coach. The guys trusted him and the guys believed in him.”

The seniors filled a variety of roles throughout the season, something Hughes believes strengthened the team.

“We had one of our seniors being the catcher and one of them kind of being a utility guy where he could play multiple positions and pitch for us,” Hughes said. “Then we had one that was an everyday left fielder, and then had a guy that could come off the bench and do some stuff for us.

“We didn’t have stars. The mixture of those seniors was perfect to be the leaders. They didn’t act like stars. They acted like just another one of the guys.”

Purdy returns much of its roster, and Hughes said the underclassmen have already embraced the offseason emphasis on strength and conditioning.

“Coach Jacob Bouchard is taking over the idea of getting us stronger and has ran with it,” Hughes said. “They’re working out three or four times a week this summer. The younger guys have bought into that. We’re hoping to see this fall how the strength that we were lacking last spring can help contribute on the field.”

Hughes said the returning upperclassmen have helped set the standard for incoming players.

“This year’s juniors and seniors coming back have bought into it,” Hughes said. “Therefore, we’re getting two or three freshmen that are coming in on a regular basis. The younger kids are buying in based on the leadership of our guys that played last year and wanting to get stronger.”

Although the Eagles accomplished many of their goals this spring, Hughes said one remains unfinished.

“We have a goal every year,” Hughes said. “You want to win the conference, you want to win district. It was nice to win the SWCL the last time it was ever there. A goal of winning a district title, and we’ve come up short three years in a row on that. We want to get over that hump.”

Purdy’s last district championship came in 2019. With five experienced seniors returning next season, Hughes believes the opportunity is there.

“We bring back a lot of guys that are very talented,” Hughes said. “They’ve played a lot of baseball. They’ve been in that district championship game two or three years. They’re wanting it.

“If we can get over that hump, that would be the goal that we’re shooting for, even right now when we’re doing offseason stuff, summer stuff, weights, strength and conditioning.”

Hughes also credited assistant coaches Brad Longley and Bouchard for helping build the program.

“We have had a really good coaching staff with Coach Longley and Coach Bouchard,” Hughes said. “They’re both very good coaches, and they did a lot for me and the program. They just do a fabulous job.

“We’re actually going to miss Coach Longley, so it’s up to Coach Bouchard and I to keep working toward the process.”