The Purvis Tornadoes will head out to take on the St. Patrick Fighting Irish at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Purvis will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
Purvis is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Mississippi's top teams: Petal, who was ranked 11th at the time (Purvis was ranked third). The Tornadoes had just enough and edged out the Panthers 12-10.
Tyce Shepherd was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in February. Another player making a difference was Hudson Walker, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, St. Patrick suffered their closest loss since March 8th on Friday. They fell just short of Perry Central by a score of 8-6.
Eli Bowen made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Bennett Rimes, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Purvis' victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-5. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for St. Patrick, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Purvis has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Patrick struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Purvis took their victory against St. Patrick in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tornadoes since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
