By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After finishing as the district runner up the last two seasons, the Purdy softball team finally got to hoist a championship plaque on Tuesday evening at the Eagles’ home field.
Pitcher Gabby Groomer and the Purdy defense allowed just two baserunners in the first six innings and the Eagles managed several clutch hits in knocking off Exeter 5-2 in the Class 1 District 5 title game.
“These seniors had been here before and they finally got it done,” said Purdy coach Lori Videmscheck. “They were runners up last year against Ash Grove and the year before that I think Miller got us. For these seniors it’s just awesome. They get a chance to be district champs and I’m super proud of them.”
Tuesday’s victory marked the 10th-straight win for Purdy, which improved to 20-7 overall and advanced to next week’s quarterfinal playoffs. The Eagles will face either Lockwood or Liberal, who play Thursday in the District 6 finals.
Top-seeded Purdy scored twice in the second inning against Exeter and added two more runs in the third and one in the sixth. Junior Lauren Brooks led off the second with a double to the center field fence and then scored when senior Zoey Webb reached on an infield error. Webb later scored on a two-out single down the third-base line by sophomore Andelynn Vineyard.
In the third, senior Rosa Schad led off with an infield single and then freshman Kenzi Postlewait reached safely on a bunt when the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. They both scored when Webb singled to left with two outs to make it a 4-0 game.
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That lead would prove more than enough for Groomer, who pitched all seven innings and notched 13 strikeouts. She allowed a two-out walk in the first and later struck out five in a row, not allowing another baserunner until Exeter sophomore Lily Stevenson led off the fifth with a single to left. Groomer retired the next three without the ball leaving the infield.
The Eagles got some insurance in the sixth––freshman Chloe Prock hit into a fielder’s choice and ended up at third with two outs. She scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
Exeter’s bats started to wake in the top of the seventh. Junior Zeanndrea Brown led off with a single and then senior Dawnee Sorenson blasted a pitch over the left-field fence for a 2-run homer. Singles by Stevenson and sophomore Jaylee Hawkins put runners at the corners with two outs, and senior Abby Lemons drew a walk on a pitch that went to the backstop––Stevenson broke for home, but Purdy corralled the ball and got a tag down just in time to end the game.
“We did what we needed to do,” Videmscheck said. “We got a little tight in that seventh inning, but other than that the kids did what they needed to do and played really good defense behind G. When they did hit the ball we made the plays. That seventh inning was a little exciting––too exciting for me.”
The Eagles finished with eight hits. Junior Lauren Brooks, Webb and Vineyard each collected two.
“We bunted the ball really well today,” Videmscheck said. “We moved runners when we needed to. We had a runner at second and put the ball on the right side of the field and moved her over. We had a couple passed balls that scored some runs. That’s what it takes to win, do those little things right.”
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Exeter’s Stevenson collected two of her team’s four hits. Brown started at pitcher and struck out two in three innings. Sorenson tossed the final three frames and also struck out two.
“We showed up to play and were ready to go from the start,” Exeter coach Ashley Fly said. “We let them get some runs on the board early and our goal was to not go home scoreless tonight. We had a little bit of fire in our belly and we were able to score some runs before the end.”
The Tigers finished with a 14-13 record and only lost once to a team below .500 on the year.
“We started out playing some really tough teams, we prepped for this from the beginning,” Fly said. “Our record doesn’t show it but we played a lot of bigger schools. We’re a Class 1 school and we played a lot of Class 2 and 3 schools to be able to get back here. That was our goal, to get here and to get ready for this game. Playing those big schools definitely helped a lot.”
“Our seniors played well tonight and we’re very proud of them,” Fly said.
