Lady Eagles fall to Miller in title bout, 10-9
By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
It was all going Purdy’s way — until it wasn’t.
The Lady Eagles softball team (24-10) saw its season come to a close with a stomp of the second bag by Miller’s shortstop to deliver Purdy a 10-9 loss in the Class 1, District 5 title contest on May 9.
Up 2-0 after three, Miller tied the game in the fourth and took a 6-2 lead after five and 9-2 lead after six. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Eagles plated 5 runs, but another 2 in the final frame was not enough to catch the Lady Cardinals.
Lori Videmschek, Purdy coach, said an injury to freshman pitcher Gabriela Groomer stalled the Lady Eagles, and mentally, the young squad struggled to recover.
“Groomer tweaked her shoulder and went as long as she could go, then Hadley [Hughes] came in and struggled a little bit,” she said. “Our scouting report said to pitch to Miller below the knees, and every pitch they hit well was up in the zone.”
Despite falling behind 7 runs, Purdy found a way to battle back.
“We showed a lot of guts to come back from 9-2 and give ourselves a chance to score the tying run,” Videmschek said. “It just didn’t go our way.”
The momentum swing in the contest was directly correlated to Purdy’s mental state, Videmschek said, and area the young Lady Eagles will need to address.
“We’re still a pretty young team with just one senior, four juniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores,” she said. “We are still learning what we need to do, figuring out roles and how it take 9-10 kids to win a game.
“At points, I had kids going up to bat with tears in their eyes. We were nervous and scared, and we have to be mentally tough in those moments.”
As young as Purdy is, Miller is not. With seven seniors, the Lady Cardinals have had a run in girls sports the last two years, repeating district titles in volleyball, basketball and softball, as well as taking second in state in volleyball and reaching the quarterfinals in basketball.
“They are a good team and they played hard,” Videmschek said. “We played scared when we needed to step up. I’m a firm believer that kids need to play multiple sports with multiple coaches to build confidence, and Purdy’s volleyball and basketball programs have struggled, so mentally, it’s tough to get over that hurdle.”
Looking past the district heartbreak, Videmschek said for the Lady Eagles to return to the glory of 2021’s state title, there is work to do.
“We play a lot of bigger schools, like Mt. Vernon and Sparta this season who could make a run at state, and we got better this season but not as mentally tough as we need. We have one of the toughest scheduled in the state, and we need it to learn how to get tough again.
“I’ve done this for more than 20 years and had some teams struggle mentally. A good team had three things: leadership, knowing how to be a good teammate and knowing how to play together. You will have failures if you do not have all three. This group has to learn some of all of that, and how to learn to fail and get tougher from it.”
Purdy will lose the one senior to graduation, Kavery Postlewait, who Videmschek said shined in the title bout.
“What I am most proud of in that game is Kavery,” Videmschek said. “She played some of her best ball going 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk. She played her butt off and I’m really proud of her. It was a great end to her season — she left it all on the field.”
To view all photos from the game, or purchase any, visit: https://tinyurl.com/5fskmmtd.
