SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Purdy defeated Holcomb 4-1 in the Class 1 title game at the MSHSAA Spring Softball Championships on Sunday at Killian Softball Complex.
In Class 2, Diamond settled for fourth place, as Kennett earned a 6-2 win over the Wildcats in the tourney’s third place game.
CLASS 1 CHAMPS
The Purdy Eagles capped a 30-1 season with a state championship, the program’s first.
Sunday’s title game was deadlocked 1-1 when the Eagles pushed across a single tally in the fifth and added two insurance runs in the sixth.
Lauren Schallert (26-1) was the winning pitcher. She struck out seven, scattered two hits and did not allow an earned run.
Purdy took a 1-0 lead in the third after a walk, a single and a Holcomb error.
Holcomb plated an unearned run in the fourth.
Purdy’s Robyn Schad homered to left in the fifth.
In the sixth, Jessi Hoppes doubled and Annabelle Bowman contributed a run-scoring single to left. Kinsley Mattingly added an RBI single up the middle for a 4-1 lead.
Bowman went 3-for-3 for the Eagles.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Purdy defeated Advance 7-0.
Schallert struck out 16 and gave up just two hits in a complete-game shutout.
Bayleigh Robbins went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Bowman drove in two runs on two hits.
FOURTH IN CLASS 2
The Class 2 third-place game was tied at two after five innings, but Kennett plated four runs in the top of the sixth.
Diamond’s Madison Bentley (15-3) was charged with the loss. She allowed five earned runs and struck out seven.
Bentley also had two of Diamond’s six hits.
Kennett’s Anelle Harris gave up two runs on six hits and fanned nine.
The Wildcats scored once in the second on Grace Irwin’s RBI single.
Diamond’s final tally crossed home in the third, as Grace Frazier walked and later scored on Bentley’s RBI single to left.
With the game tied, Kennett scored four runs on three hits in the sixth, with a two-run double from Kayton Hurst the biggest blow.
Diamond went 20-4 this spring.
Potosi beat Diamond 3-0 in Saturday’s semifinals, as Samantha Huck tossed a no-hitter. She struck out 14 and walked one.
Diamond’s Bentley took the loss, but she allowed just two earned runs on five hits. She struck out eight.
In the Class 2 title game, Skyline beat Potosi 1-0.
