BURLINGTON — Randleman (N.C.) High sophomore pitcher Drake Purvis was in complete control last Friday in the NCHSAA 2A state finals at Burlington (N.C.) Athletic Stadium.
The lefty NC State commit in the class of 2024 started the first game in the best of three series against Whiteville (N.C.) High and set the tone. Randleman High took care of business Saturday with a 12-5 win for the series sweep and repeated as state champs.
Purvis had committed to Miami (Fla.) during his eighth-grade year, but flipped to the Wolfpack on Feb. 18, 2022.
Statistics
Purvis threw a five-inning no-hitter, and struck out 12 batters, walked one and hit one batter during a 10-0 victory.
Video
Three Observations
1. Purvis threw 73 pitches in five innings, and only one hitter reached the outfield, with an easy pop-up to center field. He had 24 pitches called for balls, including hitting a batter, and also had a wild pitch mixed in. Forty-four pitches were either strikes or foul balls.
Purvis’ dominance was so dominant that only five hitters made any kind of contact in the field of play out of the 73 pitches. He had the aforementioned pop-up to center field, a groundout to the third baseman, a ground out to Purvis and two infield errors. One of the errors was a bang-bang play, which could have been ruled a hit, and the first one came on a diving stop and errant throw.
2. Purvis works quickly and efficiently. He got into his rhythm and doesn’t waste much time in-between pitches. He knows what he wants to do, mixed in his fastball with an over the top curveball. He said he has reached 93 miles per hour and he was jazzed right from the start of the game. At a slender 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, he'll only get stronger.
Purvis said he also mixed in a slider and a splitter that served as his changeup. Whiteville had some lefty hitters in the lineup, and they probably hadn’t seen many lefty pitchers like Purvis. He never pitched more than 16 pitches in an inning. Purvis had just 10 pitches in the first inning and 12 pitches in the fifth inning.
3. Whiteville last lost on March 17 against St. Pauls (N.C.) High and ended up finishing the year 23-5, so Purvis was going against a quality program.
The only time Purvis was in any kind of danger was when the leadoff batter reached second base on a throwing error by the third baseman. The other time Whiteville reached second base was in the third inning due to an error and wild pitch.
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