Purdy Lady Eagles Take State
Residents lined Highway C in Purdy to welcome and congratulate the Purdy Eagles as they rolled into town atop a fire truck after Sunday’s championship state playoff game in Springfield.
Photo by Amy Harkey.
Photo by Amy Harkey.
Shown above, left to right, in the front row are: Haley Stokes and Rosa Schad, managers; Jaclin Fenske, Makenna Orwig, Jesse Hoppes, Raeley Henderson, Faith Coscia, and Rylee Stanford, team members; and Ava Periman, manager; back row: Coach Lori Videmschek, Robyn Schad, Annabelle Bowman, Bayleigh Robbins, Kinsley Mattingly, Lauren Schallert, Hadley Hughes, Dally Ty Craig, Jasmine Holloway and Coach Jennifer Cornelius.
Photo by Amy Harkey.
Photo by Amy Harkey.
May 26, 2021
Lee Stubblefield & Sheila Harris
The Purdy Lady Eagles made history Sunday afternoon at Springfield’s Killian Sports Complex. The Purdy girls defeated Holcomb, 4-1, winning the final of the MSHSAA Class 1 Spring Softball Championship.
Lauren Schallert dominated a powerful Holcomb lineup, allowing just one unearned run, striking out seven, and allowing no walks. All this just a day after striking out 16 in Purdy’s 7-0 semifinal win over Advance.
Wheels and steals
Purdy opened the scoring in the third inning when Kinsley Mattingly walked, stole second, and then came home on a Holcomb error. With Schallert on the mound, Coach Lori Videmschek was more than willing to play small ball to give her team an early lead. But the Lady Hornets tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth frame with an unearned run.
Two out clout
That score held until the fifth inning. With two outs, Robyn Schad crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to give Purdy a 2-1 lead. That home run - Schad’s ninth dinger of the year - proved to be the winning run. But the Purdy hitters added two more runs in the sixth inning. Just in case.
Jessi Hoppes reached with a lead off double, and scored on Annabelle Bowman’s RBI single. Then Bowman stole second, and came home on Mattingley’s RBI single.
With a 4-1 lead, Schallert turned it loose in the final two innings, setting down the Lady Hornets in order to close it out in the seventh.
30-1
Purdy finished the season at 30-1. The Lady Eagles opened the season with a 10-0 streak before suffering a train wreck loss to East Newton. But Videmschek’s girls rebounded and fashioned a 20-game win streak to finish the season as state champs.
Pitching and defense
In that 30-1 season, Purdy held opponents scoreless 19 times, and allowed one run in seven other outings. Only twice all season did the Lady Eagles allow more than two runs.
Schallert, college bound to Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, after winning a championship, won 26 of her 27 starts on the season.
Purdy Eagles Coach Lori Videmschek says this year’s state title is especially sweet for the team’s six seniors.
“Last year, due to COVID, we didn’t get to play at all,” Videmschek said. “When they told us we were going on wellness-break, at first we thought maybe that meant a two-week hiatus, but then we ended up being put out of play for the season.
“My seniors came into this season looking at it as their last chance to play together as a team and take a state title,” Videmschek continued. “They played hard and made it happen.”
Videmschek said softball teams she has coached have been close to a state title three different times, most recently in 2017 when they took second place after losing to Strafford.
While this state championship is a first for the Purdy softball team, the Lady Eagles’ basketball team took first in state in both 1981 and 2011, Videmschek said.
Lee Stubblefield & Sheila Harris
The Purdy Lady Eagles made history Sunday afternoon at Springfield’s Killian Sports Complex. The Purdy girls defeated Holcomb, 4-1, winning the final of the MSHSAA Class 1 Spring Softball Championship.
Lauren Schallert dominated a powerful Holcomb lineup, allowing just one unearned run, striking out seven, and allowing no walks. All this just a day after striking out 16 in Purdy’s 7-0 semifinal win over Advance.
Wheels and steals
Purdy opened the scoring in the third inning when Kinsley Mattingly walked, stole second, and then came home on a Holcomb error. With Schallert on the mound, Coach Lori Videmschek was more than willing to play small ball to give her team an early lead. But the Lady Hornets tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth frame with an unearned run.
Two out clout
That score held until the fifth inning. With two outs, Robyn Schad crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to give Purdy a 2-1 lead. That home run - Schad’s ninth dinger of the year - proved to be the winning run. But the Purdy hitters added two more runs in the sixth inning. Just in case.
Jessi Hoppes reached with a lead off double, and scored on Annabelle Bowman’s RBI single. Then Bowman stole second, and came home on Mattingley’s RBI single.
With a 4-1 lead, Schallert turned it loose in the final two innings, setting down the Lady Hornets in order to close it out in the seventh.
30-1
Purdy finished the season at 30-1. The Lady Eagles opened the season with a 10-0 streak before suffering a train wreck loss to East Newton. But Videmschek’s girls rebounded and fashioned a 20-game win streak to finish the season as state champs.
Pitching and defense
In that 30-1 season, Purdy held opponents scoreless 19 times, and allowed one run in seven other outings. Only twice all season did the Lady Eagles allow more than two runs.
Schallert, college bound to Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, after winning a championship, won 26 of her 27 starts on the season.
Purdy Eagles Coach Lori Videmschek says this year’s state title is especially sweet for the team’s six seniors.
“Last year, due to COVID, we didn’t get to play at all,” Videmschek said. “When they told us we were going on wellness-break, at first we thought maybe that meant a two-week hiatus, but then we ended up being put out of play for the season.
“My seniors came into this season looking at it as their last chance to play together as a team and take a state title,” Videmschek continued. “They played hard and made it happen.”
Videmschek said softball teams she has coached have been close to a state title three different times, most recently in 2017 when they took second place after losing to Strafford.
While this state championship is a first for the Purdy softball team, the Lady Eagles’ basketball team took first in state in both 1981 and 2011, Videmschek said.
