Extra innings: Purvis picks up pivotal Game 1 win over West Lauderdale at MHSAA 4A Championship

PEARL — It took extra innings, but the Purvis Tornadoes are one win away from lifting the 2023 MHSAA Class 4A State Championship.

The Tornadoes scored two runs in the eighth inning and held on to beat perennial powerhouse West Lauderdale 3-1 in Game 1 of the championship series Wednesday afternoon at Trustmark Park.

Purvis can clinch the program’s fourth state championship with a win in Friday’s Game 2, scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

After blowing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh Wednesday, the Tornadoes got some key hits in the pivotal final inning.

Senior Damon Putnam led things off with a double and came around to score on Austin Lawler’s line drive single to center field. Sophomore Ethan Walker singled and came home on David Walker’s groundout to third.

“I went up there trying to get on base any way I could,” said Putnam, one of two Purvis seniors. “We felt like if we got a run right there, we could close it out.”

The insurance run was more than enough for Purvis. Reliever Jojo Parker sat the Knights down in order in the bottom of the inning to seal the win.

“We sent Jojo out there to try and close it out in the seventh,” Purvis coach Tony Farlow said. “It didn’t work out the way we thought it might, but we picked up the runs in the top of the eighth and he slammed the door after that.”

The Tornadoes (31-6) got a great start out of junior Eli Lowe, who allowed just one earned run on four hits and three walks in six innings of work. He struck out just three batters, but threw 59 of his 97 pitches for a strike.

Parker, Putnam, Ethan Walker and Lawler all had multiple hits for Purvis.

West Lauderdale (28-7) starter Ian Harrington was equally impressive on the mound. The junior allowed two earned runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Sophomore Ridge Brown worked one inning of relief, allowing one hit and one walk with a strikeout.

Jacob Wooten had the lone RBI for West Lauderdale with his RBI line-drive single to center in the seventh.

“I thought Ian pitched great tonight,” West Lauderdale coach Jason Smith said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the way he competed tonight. Sometimes, you just come up short. We made a few mistakes today, and those mistakes were magnified because it was such a tight game.”