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By Dana Harding
Facing a potent Lincoln lineup in the state semifinal, Purdy’s Hallie Henderson needed to be solid in the circle.
Solid, on this day, turned out to be a no-hit shutout.
Henderson’s no-hitter helped pace the Lady Eagles (27-1) to a 3-0 victory and a berth in Sunday’s state final.
The senior right-hander’s line included ten strikeouts, zero walks and a single baserunner.
Lincoln’s Sidney Johnson reached on a sixth-inning infield error; however, the Lady Cardinals were unable to move her past second base.
While Purdy head coach Lori Videmschek knew of Lincoln’s undefeated record and .507 batting average, she was more than confident in her Henderson’s abilities.
“They’re a good hitting team, but we kept the ball in great spots,” Videmschek said. “[Hederson] moved the ball around today, hit her spots and kept the batters off-balance. They didn’t know if it was going in or out, up or down, or what. She changed speeds a little bit and got them out on their front foot, and then our defense behind stepped up and did some things very well.”
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Purdy struck first in the second inning, when senior Rion Boyd stole home on a passed ball from Lincoln starter Sloan Swearngin.
Videmschek didn’t hesitate pulling the trigger.
“We had great baserunning today,” Videmschek said. “The bobbled a ball, and we took that extra base today, and that was huge. The baserunner was Rion, and I’m going to send her. She pretty much has a green light no matter what.”
After reaching on a single in the fourth, Boyd scored from second on an error and put a validation stamp on Videmscek’s praise.
Mikey Schad’s RBI single scored Sami House to cap off Purdy’s inning with a 3-0 advantage.
It was all Henderson would need.
“I was pretty confident today,” Henderson said. “I warmed up pretty good. I just focused on hitting my spots. I knew if I hit my spots, we’d be in a good spot.”
When asked about the no-hitter, the Purdy standout downplayed the moment.
“I try not to think about it until later on in the game,” Henderson said. “If I think about it, I just spaz out, so I don’t really focus on it. I just focus on getting outs.”
Purdy’s victory sets up a Sunday rubber match with arch-rival Strafford. The teams split a pair of games at the beginning of the season, which accounts for the lone loss on each record.
Varsity Final: Purdy – 3, Lincoln – 0
Purdy 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 — 3
Lincoln 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Hits: Purdy – 7, Lincoln – 0
Errors: Purdy – 1, Lincoln – 1
LOB: Purdy – 4, Lincoln – 1
WP: Hallie Henderson (10 Ks, 0 H, 0 BB)
Time of game: 1:15
