By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

PURVIS — A team does not reach the level of success that Purvis has achieved in baseball by wilting in the face of adversity.

Pass Christian learned that the hard way Tuesday night in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs at Tony Farlow Field, as the Tornadoes completed their comeback from a game down in the best-of-three series with a dominant 11-0 victory in six innings.

Purvis (23-7 overall) kept its hopes alive for a second consecutive 4A state championship, advancing to the third round against Region 7-4A rival Columbia. The Pirates completed their season 10-20.

“The did today; they showed their championship pedigree,” said Tornadoes head coach Tony Farlow. “Offensively, we’d been struggling the last couple of weeks of the season. 

“But we looked like our old selves again. We pitched well and had some big innings offensively. It was kind of fun to watch them hit the ball tonight.”

Purvis rode a huge night from junior Ethan Walker, on the mound and at the plate. 

The big right-hander – the team’s regular catcher – pitched a one-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking two, and clubbed two decisive home runs, the first a two-run job that broke open the game in the fourth inning and a three-run jack that ended it in the sixth.

For Pass, it was a bittersweet ending to a season that started disastrously with a 10-game losing streak to open the season, but ended with a spirited playoff run.

“We just ran out of gas, ran out of pitchers,” said Pass Christian coach Ricky Smith. “We gutted it out, but we just didn’t have enough today. 

“Purvis is the defending state champions; they came out with that mentality and we couldn’t match that pitch-for-pitch, and they just put us away at the end.”

It all started at the top for the Tornadoes, as the top four hitters in the Purvis batting order were 7 of 10, with nine runs on eight RBIs, three hit batters and two walks.

“That was huge, getting the top of the lineup on base for the guys in the 3-4-5 spots,” said Farlow. “If you get those guys on base with zero or only one out, you’ve got a chance to do a little damage.”

But it started on the mound with Walker (6-0). Mixing a deadly curveball with his fastball and slider, Walker kept the Pirates completely handcuffed at the plate. 

A big key was getting ahead in the count. Walker faced 20 batters Tuesday night, and only three started out with a ball. And eight Pirate batters started out 0-2.

Walker struck out the side in the second, but ran into some trouble in the third, as the Tornadoes’ only defensive mistake of the game nearly cost them a run. 

Landon Necaise led off by reaching on a booted ball in the infield, then senior Evan Anderson drew a walk. Junior Aiden Mitchell tried to bunt the runners over, but Purvis first baseman Drew Swan fielded the ball and threw quickly to third to get the lead runner.

However, another walk loaded the bases but with the next pitch Walker got out of the jam, getting a ground ball to senior second baseman Eli Lowe, who stepped on second and threw in time to first for a double play.

“That was big,” said Walker. “The first couple of games, we made some errors that kind of beat us around. But today we played really good defense.”

Pirates junior Brenden Necaise (3-3) tried to match Walker, but he cracked under the offensive pressure in the third inning, when Purvis started to pull away with a pair of runs.

“We were able to bounce back, come back strong this season,” said Necaise. “I’ve got all the respect in the world for (Purvis). They showed why they won the state championship.

“But I think we’ll be back better next year. We just have to keep working hard.”

“He wasn’t a hundred percent today, but he gutted it out, because that’s who he is,” said Smith of Necaise. “He gave it everything he had. We just ran out of gas.”

Unfortunately, the pitchers Smith brought in after Necaise weren’t up to the task, as Purvis put the game almost out of reach with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.

Sophomore right-hander Wesley Jolley, who pitched effectively and earned the victory for Pass in Friday’s 7-4 victory in Game 1, came on to pitch, and got two quick outs on deep balls to centerfield.

But an infield error on a dribbler up the first base line off the bat of 9-hole hitter Paxton Cooper set the table for the Parker brothers, both of whom walked. During those two at-bats, two runs came home on a wild pitch and a passed ball.

That just left Jacob Parker on base for Ethan Walker to bat and he sent a 3-2 fastball high over the leftfield fence for a 7-0 lead.

Although Pass Christian was disappointed in seeing the season end, he only loses four seniors, just two of whom start, and he has the heart of his roster returning.

“We had good leadership, that’s why it was so frustrating early in the season that we weren’t playing up to our potential,” said Smith. “The way we played at the end of the season is how we expected to play all along.

“Even though we were young, we were talented. So I think our leaders did a good job of holding us together. I’m really proud about that.”

Purvis swept Columbia in the regular season, 9-0 and 3-2, but that was back in March. Since then, the Wildcats (21-9) have won eight straight games, including playoff sweeps over Mendenhall and Bay High.

“That was a long time ago,” said Farlow. “Sure, we swept them, but we also beat Pass pretty bad earlier in the season. But I think Columbia’s playing pretty good baseball right now, so it should be a great series.”