MONTICELLO-Purvis defeated Lawrence County 10-3 in Division 7-4A high school baseball action Tuesday night at Jimmie Davis Park. The Tornadoes banged out 13 hits to overpower LCHS.

With the win, Purvis, coached by Tony Farlow, improved to 10-5 overall, and 5-2 in Division 7-4A play. Lawrence County, under first-year coach Josh Garrett, fell to 12-5 overall, and 4-3 in the division.

“Hats off to Purvis,” said Garrett. “They hit most everything we threw up there. They’ve got a fine team, and they showed it tonight. I thought our guys played hard. I can’t fault the effort.”

The first two Purvis batters singled to left field, a sign of things to come. The Tornadoes scored 1 in the first inning. In the second, two more hits and a misplayed fielder’s choice added up to two more Purvis runs. In the third, two more Purvis hits, the second being an RBI double by third baseman Chandler Powell, made it a 4-0 game.

Lawrence County’s first run came in the bottom of the fourth, when Cougar pitcher Kody Smith slammed a long homerun to left center.

Leading 4-1, Purvis exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth, putting the game away. The Tornadoes banged out six hits in the inning, and took advantage of two LCHS errors.

“We didn’t play an awful game,” said long-time LCHS assistant Craig Davis. “We just got hit too much. We were down 7-1, and hadn’t made a single error or walked a single batter. Our guys threw well. The other guys just hit it. When the other team has five guys in the multiple hit column, it’s usually a tough night.”

Kody Smith worked four-plus innings for the Cougars, giving way to left-hander Brennan Lang in the midst of the six-run fifth inning. The duo combined to strike out four, and did not walk a Purvis batter.

Lawrence County’s final two runs came in the bottom of the seventh. A one-out single by Gabriel Lewis was followed by Brandon Bullock’s booming triple to right. Bullock then scored on a Lang groundout.

Lewis led LCHS with two hits. Smith, Bullock, Logan Greenlee, and Josh Stephens each had one.

Purvis side-armer Jacob Williams went the distance for the Tornadoes. He allowed six hits and struck out four. Left-fielder Shelton Smith had three hits to lead Purvis. Nathan Roseberry, Brady Farlow, Chandler Powell, and Logan Pitfield each had 2 hits.

Lawrence County will travel to Purvis on Thursday night. That game was originally scheduled for Friday, but Friday’s ominous weather forecast caused the game to be moved to Thursday.