In a battle of bi-district Bulldogs, Corrigan-Camden’s season ended after two games Thursday, falling 21-2 and 11-2 to District 23-2A champion Garrison on a night filled with storms in Lufkin.
In Game 1, Corrigan-Camden got the scoring started in the second inning, as Will Ratliff and Cooper Kilgore singled. Kreek Johnson moved both up with a sacrifice and Layton Cox beat out an infield single, scoring a run. Michael Sullivan also collected a base hit, making it 2-0, Corrigan Bulldogs.
A double, walk and hit batter loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with no outs for Garrison. A three-run double put Garrison up by one. Three singles produced three runs, and Weston Wright relieved Murphy on the mound, but the offense continued. A walk was followed by a two-run base hit, pushing the advantage to 8-2.
Three consecutive RBI-singles put the maroon Bulldogs up 11-2 in the fifth, then the floodgates opened again in the sixth.
A solo home run from Jack Richardson was followed by nine more runs, as Corrigan-Camden used three different hurlers in the inning.
Corgan took another 2-0 advantage in the second game, but two delays interrupted play for 45 minutes each time.
“They bounced back pretty good,” Corrigan-Camden coach Kevin Purvis said. “It was 2-0 in the fourth and they scored five. We pulled Sullivan after he ran out of pitching. It is a rarity to see a (Class) 2A team hit the ball like they do. They don't strike out and they make you throw pitch after pitch. They will foul them off and are just tough. It is not off the handle; they are getting it on the barrel.”
Operating with new parts everywhere, the 2025 season was a success for the Bulldogs.
“Going in, we had seven new starters, so we were slightly above my expectations,” Purvis said. “Finally, toward the end, we got progressively better, and that is what you want to do when you have a young group coming in.”
Three seniors in Michael Sullivan, Weston Wright and Brodie Jones will all graduate soon.
“Michael Sullivan was my bat boy from the sixth grade, so he has been with me for a long time. He has put a lot into it in his career and we are going to miss him. We won't be able to replace him. Weston Wright came to us last year and I couldn't have been more happy to have him show up and play for us his last two years. Brodie Jones is like Michael and has been a mainstay. I have known him and his family forever and they will all do anything you ask of them. Those are the ones you will miss.”
Purvis said Sullivan is weighing options of playing on the collegiate level.
The coach said next year’s team will need to find pitching to be successful.
“I told them in our end-of-the-year huddle after the game that now that we have a bunch of people coming back, the expectations ramp up. All of the remedial stuff is in the barn and now we are starting to advance and get better.”
