Dragons hosting District

Purcell will host the Kellyville Ponies in the District Baseball Tournament today Thursday for the best 2-3.

Games will start at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. weather permitting with the if-necessary game ticketed for Friday.

The Dragons went 3-1 in the last week dropping the second game against Bethel, 5-4 last Tuesday while knocking off Ardmore 11-5 last Thursday on Senior Night and edging CHA 8-7 last Friday. Purcell stayed on the winning track,  topping Asher Monday, 8-5.

Paced by a nine-hit attack on offense against Ardmore, Logan Roberts picked up the victory on the bump going the distance, striking out four.

Designated hitter Bryce Blair led the hitting charts with a 2-4 outing and knocked in a trio of runners.

Both Roberts and Blair smacked doubles in the game. Carter Goldston went 1-3 and had pair of RBIs.

Zach Idlett went 2-3 with an RBI joining Parker Page, Cole Smedley, Boston Knowles and Roberts, all of whom posted an RBI.

The Dragons shot out of the gate with a five-run first inning. Purcell scored in every inning except the third and won easily despite committing four errors.

“Senior Night was a success,” head coach Cole Sharp confirmed. “All of our seniors got to play including Zach Idlett, Logan Roberts and Kevin Garcia.  It was a good way to send these seniors out on a good note with a win.”

Sharp took note of the Dragon sticks.

“I was proud of the way we hit against Ardmore,” he said. “We needed that to get some confidence going down the stretch.”

Zach Idlett, who was the winning pitcher in the contest, smacked the walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th to secure the Dragon victory. Drew Kimbrell went 2-5 including a double. Page also doubled in the game.

Boston Knowles, who had a rare inside-the-park home run in the game, started the contest on the mound, striking out five in five innings of work. Idlett came in and was tougher than a bus stop steak. He gave up just one hit in the five innings he pitched.

“Zach was a bulldog up there on the mound with his focus,” Sharp said. “Boston did a good job in starting. We struggled in the field backing him up but he kept competing and plugging away.”

On the Knowles home run.

“You don’t see them very often but Boston has the speed to do it,” the coach confirmed.

The speedy sophomore led the team with three RBIs.

Purcell had Bethel down 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh but gave up three runs in the razor thin 5-4 loss.

“Cole Smedley came up big in the sixth inning getting a big two out two RBI hit to take the lead going into the 7th,” the coach said.

“ We just couldn’t hold on in the end,” Sharp said. “I was proud of our guys showing some toughness and grit in that game. Bethel is a tough team.”

The Dragons turned the tables on Asher on the road Monday in an 8-5 victory.

With the district tournament looming, Sharp pitched by committee trying to keep arms fresh.

Page started out the pitching carousel, tossing a pair of innings.

He was followed by Deaken Dobbins, who picked up the victory. He went three innings before turning the horsehide over to Cole Smedley, who got the save.

“I thought Cole did a tremendous job for his first varsity game,” the coach said. “He attacked the zone only throwing 22 pitches in two innings. I thought overall all the pitchers did a great job commanding the strike zone.”

Sharp pointed out the hitting of Knowles and Kimbrell. Kimbrell, along with Idlett,  have been on a tear in recent games, the coach confirmed.

“Seven out of the nine guys in the lineup got a hit.

“We are starting to hit the ball a lot better as a team and we will need to keep that up into the playoffs,” Sharp said.

In the victory, Purcell had to dig itself out of a 5-2 deficit heading into the top of the sixth.

The Dragons put up a four spot in the sixth and added two additional runs in the top of the seventh to post the come-from-behind victory.

“I was proud of the guys how we battled back and competed and got a good win against a tough Asher team,” Sharp concluded.