The Purdy Eagles earned a 15-0 run-rule win in five innings Wednesday over the host McAuley Catholic Warriors at historic Joe Becker Stadium.
Purdy scored five runs in the second, seven in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth, while Purdy arms Travis Hughes and Alexis Aldaba kept McAuley Catholic predominantly in check with only three runners Warriors aboard over five innings.
The second inning again proved to be the start of the Warriors unraveling in a game at Joe Becker, following their seven runs allowed in the second inning April 4 in a 11-5 loss against their conference and crosstown rival College Heights.
“They’re a good team (Purdy),” McAuley Catholic coach Bryan Jones said. “Hughes did really well (pitching). We started out pretty good in the first inning and then we had the wheels fall off. Our second inning has been tough for us. We had a second inning (April 4) where we had three or four errors and similar with this inning (Wednesday). That’s not a team you’re going to give a lot of leeway to and be able to come back from, I think they’re one of the top three or four teams in the state at the 2A level. We had too many errors.
“We had some bright spots, but they played well and put the ball right in gaps. It was unfortunate, but we’ll just keep working and getting after it. Anyway, they have a great team over there.”
McAuley Catholic junior Chase Gardner had the Warriors’ only hit with a double to start the third, but he would be picked off between second and third to retire the side.
Senior infielder Joe Staton worked a leadoff walk in the first, followed by Michael Parrigon reaching on an error.
Hughes earned the win and he allowed one hit over four innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Aldaba retired the Warriors in order in the fifth.
Josh Brown led Purdy with three hits and two RBI, Trey Hughes added two hits and three runs scored, and Easten Goetz scored three runs for the Eagles.
“We didn’t hit the ball well, I thought, but we took advantage of some of the free baserunners that we got,” Purdy coach Joshua Hughes said. “We had some key hits and I thought we ran the bases really well. We got a great outing on the mound and defense behind them, so it was a formula for a good win.
“It’s one of those things with seven seniors and two juniors in the lineup every day, we’re varsity experienced, and we want to see guys that can pitch it well. I thought the McAuley kid (Tripp Miller) did a good job on the mound. We just got there to him in the second inning and then broke it open in the third.”
McAuley Catholic dropped to 3-7 overall and the Warriors return to action Friday on the road against Southwest. The Warriors will attempt to end a four-game losing streak and three of their losses have been in consecutive days to start this week against Jasper (9-8), Greenwood (11-1), and Purdy (15-0).
“It has been a rough week,” Jones said. “No conference or district games, so we’ve been playing teams that are bigger schools that can test our depth in a way that’s good for us. We’ve had a lot of guys have some opportunities to come up and get at-bats. We’ve got a freshman that’s come in and done really well and moved his way into the lineup. We’re still developing all our guys, and we’ve also had a lot of opportunities for guys to throw as well.”
Purdy, ranked second in Class 2 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, improved to 14-3 overall and the Eagles ran their winning streak to seven games.
The Eagles’ only losses this season have been against Class 3 school Strafford (10-9) and Class 4 schools Monett (11-7) and Seneca (8-7). Purdy also owns a 4-1 win early in the season against Class 6 Carthage.
“We knew going into the season that we’ve got seven starting pitchers that I feel like can pitch at the varsity level,” Coach Hughes said. “When you’ve got seven guys that can throw at the varsity level, we want to play five-six-seven games a week if we can. We frontloaded our schedule early. We’ve got one pitcher that’s hurt a little bit, but we’ve beat some good teams and then we’ve also lost games to some good teams, too.
“That was by design with our pitching staff and being an older group, juniors and seniors, we bumped that schedule up. We played Monett and Seneca and Carthage, and we were in that Neosho tournament (Roy B. Shaver Classic). We had a rainout, or we would have played Aurora and possibly Neosho, so we knew what it was going to be like going in and that just prepares us to get to that Class 2 playoff and eventually maybe a deep run in that playoff and hopefully the Final Four.”
The talent and depth of the Joplin High School boys track and field squad was on full-display on Wednesday night.
The Eagles won 10 events and finished second in six others en route to capturing the team championship at their own Joplin Invitational at JHS.
With a top-three finish in all but one event, Joplin’s boys won the team title with 251.5 points. Webb City took second with 193.5 points. There were eight full squads competing.
The top four girls teams were Carthage (163), Webb City (134.5), Joplin (132.66) and Carl Junction (113.33).
Joplin’s Quin Renfro is pictured during the 4×100 relay on Wednesday night. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
In an impressive showing, the Joplin boys had 24 top-three performances.
The Eagles won two relays — the 4×100 and the 4×200. The team of Quin Renfro, Davin Thomas, Orion Norris and Noah Soriano won the 4×100 in 43.25 seconds, while Tayshaun Palmer, Norris, Fredy Cerrato-Martinez and Thomas won the 4×200 in 1:33.
The Eagles were third in the 4×400, with Cerrato-Martinez, Jamohn Smith, Logan Bever and Palmer competing.
Joplin sophomore Chance Tindall won two events— the 1600 in 4:42 and the 3200 in 10:48.
Eagles senior standout Hobbs Campbell won the 800-meter run in 1:56.65, just short of the school record time of 1:56.04.
Next, Joplin had the top three finishers in the 200-meter dash—Soriano (21.84), Norris (23.23) and Thomas (23.76).
The Eagles also took first and second in the 110 hurdles, with Cordell Washington first and Avarus Kuhn-Wofford second.
Kuhn-Wofford also won the 300 hurdles, with Ben Sotlar third.
A freshman, Washington won the high jump by clearing 1.82 meters. He also took third in the triple jump.
Dontrell Holt won the shot put (15.33m), while Neil Barstow was the runner-up in the discus and fourth in the shot put.
Soriano and Bever placed second and fourth, respectively, in the pole vault, while Soriano was second in the long jump, with Aidan Sampson fourth.
Aiden Scourten took second in the 400, while Thomas, Palmer and Renfro finished third, fourth and fifth in the 100, again showing off the team’s depth.
Joplin senior Hobbs Campbell won the 800-meter run at Wednesday’s Joplin Invitational. Photo by Jason Peake.
Ian Horton and Grey Edwards finished third and fourth in the 800, while Parker Durham took third in the 3200.
Drew VanGilder and Draven VanGilder finished third and fourth, respectively, in the javelin and Cerrato-Martinez was fifth in the triple jump.
Next, Joplin’s girls won three events.
The Eagles won the 4×100 relay in 50.83 seconds, with Phia Vogel, Abigayle Lowery, Abigail Eckert and Brylee Strickland competing.
The team of Micah Holden, Aubrey Strickland, Kendall Nyarango and Allie Keizer took second in the 4×400.
Also for the JHS girls, Aubrey Strickland won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.8 seconds and teammate Maria Loum was the runner-up.
Kirsten Thom (49.96) and Aubrey Strickland (51.46) were first and second in the 300 hurdles.
Brylee Strickland was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200, with teammate Lowery fourth in both events. Ava Werberger-Doll and Annabelle Rutledge finished second and third in the 1600, while Rutlege was also fifth in the 3200.
Also for the JHS girls, Vogel and Nyarango placed fourth and fifth in the long jump, Aubrey Strickland finished fifth in the triple jump, Holden was fifth in the pole vault and Claire Jasper placed fifth in the shot put.
Carthage’s Jaidyn Brunnert competes in the hurdles at the Joplin Invitational. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Joey Hettinger is pictured during Wednesday’s Joplin Invitational. At right is Webb City’s Kylie Jennings. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
Also possessing plenty of depth, the Carthage girls won six events en route to capturing the team title.
Carthage’s 4×400 relay team of Ashleigh Rowden, Evelyn Carrol, Maggie Boyd and Lexa Youngblood took first with a time of 4:27.
Carthage was second in the other relays. Competing in the 4×100 were Ashlyn Brust, Youngblood, Ada Roughton and Joey Hettinger. The 4×200 featured Brust, Rowden, Trisha Kanas and Roughton, while Boyd, Carrol, Lauren Choate and Grace Brown competed in the 4×800.
A senior, Hettinger took first in two individual events—the high jump and the long jump.
Boyd won the 800 in 2:34 and Youngblood took first in the 400 in 1:03 and was also third in the 200 in 26.79.
Chasity Straw won the discus (29.33m), while Karlie Nichols, Shaw and Lilly Holmes finished 2-3-4 in the shot put.
Roughton took second in the triple jump and third in the long jump, while Carrol placed third in the high jump and Katy Witherspoon took third in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600. Jaidyn Brunnert finished sixth in both hurdle races.
For the Carthage boys, Caleb Fewin placed second in the 3200 and was also third in the 1600.
The Tigers were third in the 4×800 relay, with Fewin, Skuylor Honeycutt, Xander Vazquez and Michael Lanyon competing, while the 4×400 finished fourth and featured Indiana Gray, Vazquez, Welle Welle and Lanyon.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s boys won six events and finished second in five others on their way to the runner-up team finish.
The Cardinals won two relays and finished second in two others.
Webb City’s 4×400 relay featuring Jadon Brisco, Noah Moss, Mason Hedger and Gabe Johnson won in 3:37. The team of Hedger, Dakota Grove, Atticus Luzander and Evan Stevens won the 4×800 in 8:32.
The 4×100 and 4×200 relays both took second and featured Jordan Thornburg, William Headrick, Johnson and William Wolfe.
Wolfe and Thornburg took first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. Wolfe crossed the line at 10.86 seconds, with Thornburg recording a time of 11.06.
Justin Allen won the pole vault, with Brisco third and Carson Farmer fifth in the same event. Nathaniel Miller won the discus (40.5m) and Trey Roets won the javelin (51.65m).
Pictured is Webb City’s Atticus Luzadder.
Tucker Liberatore was second in the javelin, Hedger was the runner-up in the 800, with Grove fifth in the same event. Joseph DeGraffenreid was the runner-up in the high jump.
Moss, Jace Jones and Dalton Riggs were third, fourth and fifth in the 100 hurdles, with Moss taking fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Grayson Smith finished third in the long jump, Julian Andrae took fourth in the triple jump and Ryan Reid was fourth in the high jump.
Dalton Thurlo was third in the shot put, with Eric Lathan fifth. Devin Turner was fourth in the discus and Malique McCarter took fifth in the javelin.
Webb City’s girls won four events.
Winning individual events for the Webb City girls were Brooke Hedger (1600), Emily Countryman (3200) and Dawsyn Decker (shot put).
Hedger recorded a time of 5:48 in the 1600, while Countryman crossed the line at 12:46 in the 3200. Miller was the runner-up to her teammate in the 3200. Decker’s toss went 10.28 meters.
Webb City’s girls won the 4×800 relay in 10:35 and featured Rachel Miller, Hedger, Countryman and Abi Street.
The Cardinals were third in the 4×200 and fourth in the 4×100. Sydney Brisco, Khloe Rhuems, Hannah Frazier and Alyssa Morena ran the 4×200, with Kylie Jennings, Chase Stilley, Moreno and Frazier running the 4×100.
Also for the Webb City girls, Stilley took second in the high jump, Essence Robinson was second in the long jump, Alix Davis was third in the pole vault and Aspen White took third in the 800.
Robinson and Jennings finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 400, Kristina Bundy placed fourth in the 1600, Aubree Lassiter took fifth in the discus and Bryleigh Webb and Riley Hanes were fourth and fifth in the javelin.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction sophomore sprinter Sydney Ward won two events — the 100-meter dash in 12.23 seconds and the 200 in 25.01.
CJ’s Acadia Badgley and Brooke Jasperson took first and second in the pole vault, while Bella Montez and Madilyn Olds were the top two finishers in the javelin.
Also for the CJ girls, Abigail Wilson was third in the triple jump, Sloan Uebinger took fourth in the 100 hurdles and Montez was fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Fifth-place finishers were Olivia Battagler (100), Zoie Weibel (400), Delaney Harris (800) and Montez (100 H).
The Carl Junction girls won the 4×200 (names unavailable) and were fifth in the 4×100.
Carl Junction’s boys 4×100 relay team of Dexter Merrell, Colton Talken, Ryder Pyles and Jaxton Wobken took fourth.
Talken took fourth in the 200, Tony Stewart was fourth in the 400, Jonah Younge placed fifth in the high jump and Donnie Keith took fifth in the discus.
Carl Junction’s Sydney Ward and Joplin’s Brylee Strickland are pictured during the 100-meter dash on Wednesday at the Joplin Invitational. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGHLIGHTS
Thomas Jefferson’s Kip Atteberry was the runner-up in the 1600, while Braden Honeywell-Lynch took fifth in both the 1600 and 3200.
Tyler Brouhard finished sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200, while Sheraz Anis was seventh in the 300 hurdles.
Lannah Grigg had the top performance for the Thomas Jefferson girls by finishing second in the discus.
Thomas Jefferson’s girls finished fourth in the 4×800 relay, with Macie Shifferd, Nico Carlson, Samantha Seto and Sarah Mueller competing.
Carlson and Gabriella Hiebert placed fourth and fifth in the high jump, while Shifferd took fourth in the 3200.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Nevada’s Drew Beachler won the long jump (6.5m) and teammate Jack Cheaney won the triple jump (12.66m).
The only girls event that wasn’t won by an athlete from Carthage, Webb City, Carl Junction or Joplin was the triple jump, which was won by Pittsburg’s Dessie Gorley.
JOPLIN INVITATIONAL
Boys team standings: Joplin 251.5, Webb City 193.5, Nevada 95, Pittsburg 59, Carl Junction 31, Carthage 28, Thomas Jefferson 24, Exeter 10.
Girls team standings: Carthage 163, Webb City 134.5, Joplin 132.66, Carl Junction 113.33, Pittsburg 79, Nevada 36.5, Thomas Jefferson 33, Exeter 5.
Webb City’s Aspen White and Carl Junction’s Delaney Harris compete in the 800 on Wednesday at Joplin High School. Photo by Jason Peake.
Joplin High School hosted a track and field invite on Wednesday. Pictured above is the boys 400-meter dash.
Webb City’s Mason Hedger and Joplin’s Ian Horton compete in the 800 on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Peake.
Runners, including Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell (center), compete in the 800-meter run.
