Addison Purvis was down but not out.
When the Sullivan High School (Missouri) softball star’s left leg gave out on a pitch against Reeds Spring on Oct. 3, she left the game, but she wasn’t off the field for long.
After missing three games because of the injury — one doctor told her she’d popped her knee out of place; another indicated damage to her lateral collateral ligament — the two-way star played through the pain to lead the Eagles to the Class 3 state tournament, where they finished second.
“It was kinda hard, but I just kept pushing myself through,” Purvis said. “I knew something was wrong with it, but it didn’t faze me because I wanted to make it to state.”
Shortly after her senior season ended, Purvis met with another doctor, who ordered an MRI. She soon got the news: She’d just played her final seven games on a torn ACL.
Purvis, who signed with Mississippi State in December, is still recovering after having surgery to repair the ligament in mid-November. She’s not sure if she will be ready to participate in practices in Starkville this fall, but she’s excited to join the school she knew was right from her very first visit.
When former head coach Vann Stuedeman first brought her to Starkville, Purvis was impressed by the Bulldogs’ spacious facilities and the Mississippi State campus. She took in a football game at Davis Wade Stadium and a men’s basketball game at Humphrey Coliseum — both “awesome” experiences. By her junior year, she was ready to commit, picking the Bulldogs over Missouri and Tulsa.
“It just felt like home right when I pulled in,” Purvis said of Mississippi State.
This spring, she followed the Bulldogs’ stellar season from home, cheering on the team as it raced to a 25-3 start — and despairing with the players when the season was ended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was getting excited to see how far they would go this year,” she said. “It was devastating. I didn’t know how to take it at first.”
Purvis said she was happy that softball is a fall sport in Missouri. Had she not gotten the chance to finish her senior season, “it would have been really sad,” she said. “I would have more than likely cried a lot.”
Purvis, who had a hitting lesson Sunday but won’t be able to swing without restriction until May, knows her rehab process is still ongoing. Pitching will follow in June, and Purvis knows she “can’t be afraid to go back and pitch” after being injured in the circle.
And when she comes to Starkville in the fall — whether she’s ready for camp or not — she’ll get to experience the impact of the virus at the collegiate level. With the NCAA Division I Council’s recent decision to extend an extra year of eligibility to athletes in spring sports, Purvis knows she’ll have to work even harder for playing time on a full and talented Bulldogs roster.
But after hitting .701 with 12 home runs and striking out 179 hitters from the circle during her standout senior season, Purvis is fine with that.
“It’ll probably make it a little hard, but we just have to keep up the work ethic,” she said. “We can’t just let them say, ‘This person has this position.’ We’re still gonna get the chance. We just have to beat them out — work harder than they do.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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