Led by Gracie Cluff at the plate, the Purvis Lady Tornadoes opened district play on the right foot Tuesday night, as they defeated rival Forrest County AHS, 20-10. Cluff finished with a team-high four hits and four RBIs, including a two-run home run in the game’s third inning.
“Gracie is probably the strongest player on our team,” Purvis head coach David Entrekin said. “If we can get her going, we’re going to be tough to deal with. It was good to see her hit that one tonight.”
Kadie Hale added four RBIs for Purvis. As a whole, the Lady Tornadoes finished with 22 hits in the contest. Sarah Ballard, Elise Jackson and Gracie Russell each had three, while Hale, Andee Robertson and Kennedy Hudson had two apiece. Jaelyn Bass, Ashlyn Lawler and Kalli McRaney each had one.
“We hit the ball a bit more consistently than we had,” Entrekin said. “I thought we made a couple of mental mistakes on some plays we should have made. I don’t know if giving them Labor Day off hurt us mentally, but I thought we hit the ball and ran the bases well. It’s always good start division play 1-0.”
Entrekin says his team has plenty to improve on moving forward.
“We have to really just improve on consistency,” Entrekin said. “We some young players in a couple of spots. We have a couple of 8th graders starting and a 9th grader on shortstop. They just have to learn though some game situations and hopefully we can get in a rhythm in play.”
FCAHS was led in Tuesday’s game by Hannah Martin, Camryn Morris and Abby Hennis, who each had two RBIs. Rayvin Jackson added three hits for the Lady Aggies.
