On a gusting Thursday evening with the wind howling and causing fits for players, starting pitcher Noah Hadlow and center fielder Alex Dyer spearheaded the Cassville Wildcat onslaught as they rolled over the host Purdy Eagles in an avenged 15-4 victory, snapping the Eagles five-game win streak.
Hadlow and Dyer, both State Fair Community College signees, had memorable performances on the diamond. For Hadlow, in an unofficial 78-pitch complete-game effort, he pitched around early hiccups, yielding three of his four runs in the first two innings. Once settled in, the right-hander got into cruise control and found his breaker to mix in with his heater to throw for strikes.
"They're (Purdy) a good team," said Hadlow following his complete game against Purdy. "They gave me trouble early, but the curveball started breaking, and I started to hit my spots more.”
Hadlow, a senior, held the Eagles to just four hits and fanned three while issuing two free passes.
"He (Hadlow) did great," said Cassville head coach Jade Samborski. "He's a workhorse; he's our horse. He did a good job inducing contact early. He did a good job of using his defense and mixing it up. A good overall performance by him."
Sparking the Wildcat offense out of the fifth spot, Dyer was a perfect 5-5 at the plate with two doubles and 6 RBI. Also, catcher Leigh Cox, designated hitter Zane Everett, third baseman Gilbert Medina, and second baseman Gavin White each accumulated multi-hit games, respectively.
"We talk a lot about not getting too big," said Samborski of his offenses approach after the win. "Hitting the ball where it's pitch, having quality at-bats, driving the ball, and having hard hit balls. We're happy with that because we can't control it after it leaves the bat.
"What we talk about is having a good approach, a good mindset at the plate. I think they did that all through the game today."
Through the first two innings, Cassville clinged to a 4-3 lead over Purdy before Hadlow blanked the Eagles over the next three frames and helped the Wildcats increase its advantage up to 8-3 by the end of the fifth inning. Cassville finished the game plating seven runs over the final two innings to best Purdy, 15-4.
"Offensively, we did a great job of scoring runs," said Samborski. "We did a great job of scoring with two outs. We talked about getting to the next batter with two outs. We did a great job of buying into that philosophy of hitting the ball the other way and having productive at-bats.
"Pitching-wise, Hadlow did a great job on the mound after the second inning. He settled in and figured out the wind. I asked him what was working after the second inning; he goes 'I don't know, coach.' He made great adjustments. He and Leigh (Cox) had a great game plan with him, working that fastball and curveball early in the count and inducing contact."
For Purdy, Hunter Cook was affected by an unofficial eleven errors committed behind him, as he was roughed up for eight runs on nine hits over five innings. Cook struck out two, walked one, and had two hit batsmen as well.
After the game, the Eagles head coach Josh Hughes credited the persistence of the Wildcats offense.
"That's a good ballclub," said Hughes. "You can't give them extra-bases, can't give them extra runs, and we did that. You got to give them credit; we would make two errors, get two guys on, and they would have three straight hits and score three more runs. You have to give them credit.
"We hit the ball okay at times. Then, there in the middle innings Hadlow settled down and shut us down there for a little while. We will learn, we are supposed to lose those games, and it makes us better. It makes us better down the road."
Cassville (6-3) returns home on Friday to host Reeds Spring at 4:30 PM, while Purdy (7-4) travels to Southwest (Washburn) on Monday at 4:30 PM.
Cassville – 15, Purdy – 4
Cassville 3 1 2 2 0 2 5 — 15
Purdy 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 — 4
