Dragons down Racers, 10-2

Freshman Kaylin Vasquez’s bat was hotter than a pistol in Monday’s 10-2 victory over Newcastle.

Vasquez went 4-4 at the plate including a home run and a double while knocking in three runners. The Purcell center fielder also scored three times.

Sophomore Hannah Whitaker, who was 3-4 on the day, had a double with an RBI and scored twice.

Senior Cora Vasquez and freshman Mac McKay both went 2-4 at the dish. Vasquez had a pair of RBIs and scored twice while McKay finished with one RBI.

Freshmen Rosie Smith and Kailynn Helton had hits in the game while senior Kyleigh Wells and junior Payci Constant both had singles.

Purcell out-hit the Racers 15-8.

Junior Kelly Anderson snagged the pitching victory in the circle.

“Kelly has done a great job on the mound and figuring out where and how to pitch different people and working on different pitches.

“We played really well on defense and strung some hits together,” Jones said. “We started hitting the ball really hard. We were a little shaky on defense a couple times but our bats made up for it.

In the North Rock Creek (No. 2 5A) game, the Dragons came up on the short end of a 14-6 count.

After leading 4-3 through the second inning, the Cougars put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the third to blow the game open.

Whitaker, Ella Resendiz and Cora Vasquez all had two hits in the contest with Vasquez notching a pair of RBIs.

“We started the game off strong,” head coach Sarah Jones said. “We held them close and made them have to work for it. They are solid up and down their lineup and can make things happen.

“We got too tight in the bottom of the third and made the little mistakes that they took advantage of, which is what you are supposed to do. We hit with them though 12-14. We had some really hard hits that they made great plays on.

The Dragons dropped a pair of close games last Tuesday.

They were edged 7-6 by Harrah and 5-3 by Dale.

Whitaker was 4-4 against Harrah. Ella Resendiz smoked a grand slam in the contest in a 3-4 outing at the plate. Kaylin Vasquez was 2-4 in the game.

Whitaker, Resendiz and Lili Del Toro were the leading hitters in the Dale contest each going 2-3.

“We held Dale close. We played incredible defense and were missing a couple of players. We were one hit away from ripping it open,” Jones said.

The Dragons out-hit Harrah 16-15 but just couldn’t break it open, the coach said.

“We are 3-6 on the season. We are just a few hits away from bringing it all together,” Jones said. “We are figuring out our lineup and where hitters need to be for us to be successful.

“Our defense is working hard. There are going to be the occasional errors but they are putting us in good spots,” she continued. “The hits have to come together in order to move runners and bring them in. Our junior high is getting better by the game and still have some season left to get better.”

Purcell and Washington are co-hosting a tournament this weekend.

The Dragons play Dibble at 11 a.m. Thursday and Mustang at 3 p.m. Purcell finishes out the day with a 5:40 p.m. contest against Silo.