By Levi Payton
sports@joplinglobe.com
PURDY, Mo. — Typically, the first out of a baseball game isn’t what people remember.
But things were different during Purdy’s 7-2 victory against Diamond in Thursday’s Class 2 District 10 championship game.
The Wildcats loaded the bases with three consecutive singles in the top of the first off Eagles starter Mason Roller and appeared ready to blow the game open.
Roller stood unshaken on the mound, though, and forced Jake Edge into a sacrifice fly to right, then struck out Justin Jinks and C.P. Bycroft to end the threat. Purdy stole the momentum and scored four in the bottom of the inning to take command.
“That inning was key,” Purdy coach Joshua Hughes said. “That first out was huge. If (the Wildcats) score three or four right there, it might be a different outcome. It was a big inning.
“Even more important was coming back and scoring four (in the bottom of the inning). That left them pressing and we were able to sit back, relax and start doing the right things.”
The Eagles, the tournament’s top seed, scored four runs on three hits, a walk and two errors in the bottom of the first. The key hit was Blake Williams’ two-out, two-run single to left that scored Derek Dailey and Ryan Veith to make it 4-1.
Diamond cut the lead in half in the fourth when Bycroft struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch. He moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored when Roller’s pickoff attempt got away from Jinks at first.
The miscue didn’t shake Roller, who went on to strike out three of the four hitters he faced in the inning.
“I have confidence with my team’s hitting and then with our defense as well,” Roller said. “I don’t ever get very rattled. I just always feel real confident out there.”
Still, Roller admits the first inning had a few bumps.
“It was a little shaky at the beginning, but it got a lot better as the game went on,” he said. “After the first three batters of the first inning, I started feeling a lot better. We had some success and I just got a lot more confidence.”
Roller (8-2) finished with a four-hit, 10-strikeout performance.
Purdy added two insurance runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth.
The Wildcats, seeded seventh, weren’t expected to be in the title game, but when they defeated College Heights on Tuesday.
“I couldn’t be more proud than I am of this group of kids,” Diamond coach Nathan Cook said. “We came (to the tournament) 5-15 and to even last the first round ... they have got guts. They could have rolled over at any minute, but they decided not to and they played real hard.”
Williams finished 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Eagles. Spencer Terry and Trent Goetz also had two hits apiece for Purdy.
Diamond’s Craig VanLue had two of the team’s four hits. The Wildcats finished the season 7-16.
The Eagles (16-8) won their first district championship under Hughes after being bounced out in the first round of the district tourney by Pierce City last season and will move on to face Forsyth in the sectionals at Forsyth High School at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
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