Purcell will take a 9-1 record into the Dibble Tournament starting Thursday and running through Saturday.

The Dragons are coming off a pair of victories Monday over John Marshall, 21-0 and 17-0.

Both games were three inning run-rules and the Bears did not get a hit in either contest.

Deaken Dobbins got the start and win throwing all three innings while striking out seven.

“I thought Deaken threw well.  He commanded the strike zone all game,” head coach Cole Sharp said.

“It was one of those games where we got to see a lot of kids play and hit,” Sharp continued.

“The highlight was when Kash Knowles hit an inside the park home run. He went 1-1 with two RBI’s.

“It was one of those games where you got to see a lot of younger guys play and get some cuts in.”

Preston Kane struck out nine Bears and went all three hitless innings.

Purcell scored 10 runs in the first inning and 11 in the second.

Sophomore Cannan Haynes led the offense with a three-run double that cleared the bases.

Freshman Kaleb Steele had an RBI double and Jace Klein went 2-2 with a pair of RBIs.

Preston Kane got the start and win.  He pitched three innings and had nine strike outs and no walks.

Preston pitched really well against John Marshall.  He attacked the zone early and often.

“We played our young guys the second game and they did a tremendous job taking advantage of the opportunity to get themselves better,” the coach said.

“Everyone on the roster got to play in these two games and I was proud of that,” Sharp said.

Purcell was stung for its first loss of the season last Friday in their own Festival when Davis pinned a 6-3 loss on the Dragons.

Purcell bounced back to run-rule Tecumseh 9-0 later that day.

Purcell opens the Dibble Tournament at 10 a.m. Thursday against Lexington. The semifinals are set for Friday with the finals slated to start at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. A complete bracket can be found in this week’s Purcell Register.

Other teams in the tournament are Latta, Dickson, Vanoss, Fletcher, Ardmore, Dibble and Sterling.

“It will be a good challenge in this tournament, head coach Cole Sharp said. “There are some really good teams in it.”

In the victory over Tecumseh, Brody Walkup and Kane combined to toss a two-hitter against the Savages while battering Tecumseh pitchers for 11 hits.

Kash Knowles went 3-3 including a double and a triple while knocking in a pair of runners.

Walkup, Deaken Dobbins and Cooper Selman all swatted doubles in the victory.

Dobbins went 2-3. He and Knowles both scored twice.

Purcell jumped on the Savage starter, scoring twice in the bottom of the first, one in the second, two in the third and four in their half of the fourth.

Brody Walkup got the start and win.

He struck out two hitters in four innings of work.

“Brody pitched a heck of a game,” Sharp said.  He was in control on the mound and challenged the Tecumseh’s hitters all game long.  Preston Kane came in relief and pitched one inning with two strikeouts to close out the contest. Also, we played pretty good defense behind Brody and Preston,” Sharp said.

In the loss to Davis, the Wolves out-hit the Dragons 6-4 and busted the game wide open in the top of the second when they pushed across five runs to take a 6-0 lead.

Purcell managed to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth and added on in the fifth but ended up on the short end of a 6-3 count.

Cash Cook, Walkup, Bryce Blair and Dobbins all had a hit in the contest.

“We fell behind and never could recover. We tried to make a push in the fourth but just couldn’t get some timely hits when we needed to.

“Kash Knowles got the start and loss,” Sharp said. “I thought Kash  didn’t have his best stuff that day.  He still was attacking the zone but just Davis was hitting the ball really well.”

The Wolves got a double with two out and the bases loaded in the top of the second.

Blair came in to relieve Knowles and tossed five innings of scoreless ball.

Purcell travels to Tuttle next Monday and hosts the Tigers the following day. Both games are district contests.