Jarren Purify's story: From Detroit's streets to Little League World Series to Clemson |
CLEMSON —
Jarren Purify grew up in Detroit, not knowing anything about a school down South called Clemson University. He didn’t know about its football or baseball traditions, but he now knows that he’s in the right place at the right time.
Purify is a freshman infielder on the Clemson baseball team who’s already played in 40 of the Tigers’ games. He’s settled in at second base – he was more of a shortstop coming out of high school – and, despite a recent slump, is still hitting .261. Purify’s journey to Clemson wasn't easy. His mother, Betty Moore, worked multiple jobs to make sure her only child had a roof over his head and plenty to eat. A physical education teacher at a nearby school (Bunche Preparatory Academy), Moore often had to take Purify to work with her. When she couldn’t take him to work, Purify relied on friends and family. “It was was a little rough just because I grew up in the city. I didn't really branch out of the city until I came here,” Purify said. “I've been there my whole entire life. It was kind of just a kid's life, play outside all day, the streetlights come on and you go back in.” Purify grew up in the area around Mt. Elliott and Chene in Detroit. His house was just a few Babe Ruth blasts from the Detroit River and Canada. When his mother worked, his family ensured he was cared for. “My aunts and uncles, they all kind of shared, took me in. My aunt lives across the street. I went to her house when my mom was still at work,” Purify said. “My aunts picked me up, dropped me off places. It was kind of a village effort. Like people say, it takes a village, so it took a village.” When Purify was three years old, Moore bought him a present that would change his future. “I think it was maybe for Christmas or for my birthday, she bought me a Little Tykes tee and baseball bat,” he said. “And for that one spring and summer, I was outside and I was just swinging and running around I didn’t really know what I was doing. But I loved it. I really wanted to play basketball up until I was about 11. I didn’t really love the game of baseball until I was 12.” Purify’s burgeoning talent was noticed, and he played for the Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League team that advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 2018. Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores earned a return trip to the World Series by rolling through the Great Lakes Regional by a combined margin of 46-6 in four games. Purify did so much damage that when he came to the plate, that with none on and one out in the regional-championship game, New Albany, Indiana manager Brian Jackson chose to intentionally walk him. According to the Detroit News, Purify finished the regional tournament in Westfield, Ind., 9-for-10 with three doubles, three triples, two homers, a .900 batting average, absurd 2.400 slugging percentage, eight RBIs and team-high nine runs scored. “He’s unbelievable; he stands out,” said Barr, a former Grosse Pointe North High School captain, who has spent 11 years coaching Little League. “We’re a team first and foremost, so I usually don’t like talking about individuals. “But Jarren is probably the best 12-year-old player I’ve ever seen and I’ve been around the game a long time. He’s got speed; he’s got power; he’s got a strong arm; he plays great defense. He’s a five-tool athlete.” The Great Lakes team went 2-2 in Williamsport, but the spark that was his love of baseball had turned into a fire. “I started playing competitive baseball when I was about 12. I didn't really think I wanted to play it until I went to the Little League World Series, and then I played with my childhood friends, and then after that, I just kind of fell in love with it,” Purify said. “I thought that I could make something of it. And here I am.” Purify knew he needed to work hard to make something of it, and he had a great example in Moore. “Just seeing her work hard made me want to work hard,” he said. “Seeing her wake up and go to work in the morning as a schoolteacher and then coming home trying to provide for us, that just kind of made me want to work even harder just so she can have some relief. She's been putting all this time and energy in me. I can put all this time and energy into this game, hopefully to fulfill bigger things.” Purify attended University Liggett School in Detroit and was quickly noticed by University of Michigan head coach Erik Bakich. The two formed an immediate bond, and Purify committed to the Wolverines. But in June 2022, Bakich was hired to return to Clemson and restore the program to its former glory. “It was kind of a crazy process, honestly. I heard he took the job here at Clemson while I was still committed to Michigan,” Purify said. “And that kind of happened so fast. All my thoughts were in the air. I was like, ‘Okay, I don't know what I'm going to do next. I don't know if he's going to call me. I don't know what this is going to be like.’ And eventually he called me and eventually made it happen. I just knew I just wanted to be with him wherever I went. And that is just because I had trusted him and his coaches so much that I just knew it wasn't a hard decision to make.” Purify admits he didn’t know much about Clemson. “I knew nothing. I knew absolutely nothing about this place. I had to look it up,” Purify said with a smile. “I had to see what it was. I didn't even know it was in South Carolina. No, not even the football team. I saw them one time, maybe back in 2018. I saw them on the TV playing against Alabama somewhere, but I didn't think much of it. Never in a million years did I think I'd play at Clemson University. Ever.” A million years turned into just six now after Purify made a summer visit. “It was pretty nice. I came down on a summer day in August of 2022, I believe. I think it was two years ago. And it was super nice,” he said. “I saw the football field, the Tiger Walk wasn't even built yet. So even without the Tiger Walk, it was amazing. I saw this facility, I saw the field. I just knew that a change wouldn't be bad and that if I came here, I knew it would be everything I was asking for.” Has it been everything he was asking for? “It's amazing. Honestly, like I said, I would've never seen myself here at all,” Purify said. “But now that I'm here, I'm just glad that this opportunity presented itself. I'm glad and I'm happy with how things are going. I'm glad that I'm just in the right place at the right time.” GAME CHANGER@ClemsonBaseball Frosh INF @JarrenPurify with the game tying double squeeze Purify said there are different things that make Clemson great. “It’s the community, the culture and the standard that Coach Bakich puts in and preaches,” he said. “Everything that comes with it. The hard work, the school, the entire package deal. I just don't think I would've got that anywhere else, especially not at Michigan or wherever I would've gone.” Despite his recent slump, Purify still affects the game. During Sunday’s game, he was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly. Because his mother can’t get off work and make it down for the games – she was able to attend the FSU series – Purify feeds off of the Doug Kingsmore Stadium crowd. “It's amazing, especially just because I'm out there as a freshman. I'm still 18 years old. I turned 18 in November last year,” Purify said. “Coming with all the positives that the fan base brings, it just lights a fire under you. So, when you do something good, you hear all the cheers. But when you're also doing bad, you also hear the negative, and you just want to do as well as you can for the fan base. You know that they have your back, and they're the only ones who are going to have your back, especially when regionals come around. So, I just want to give it my all for not just me and not the team, but everyone who has put something in and supports this program.” Bakich smiled when he was asked about his talented freshman. “He has unbelievable life perspective. He may be in a little bit of a slump right now, but he will get out of it very quickly because that might be a little bit of baseball adversity. But he's had a tough upbringing,” Bakich said. “His mom, Betty, is a single mom, and the sacrifices that she's made and just his upbringing being different and unique than most college baseball players gives him the perspective that he's playing a kid's game and he will be able to bounce back from anything because he's seen real adversity in life. “Going through a period where you strike out too much is nothing for a kid like that. So he's one of those, the ones that leadership comes naturally to him. It's tough for freshmen to just jump into this level and play every day. And the way he plays defense, the energy he brings to the field, it doesn't matter if he gets hits, he just finds a way to positively impact the game. As we saw (Sunday), he gets hit by a pitch steals second steals third scores on the sac fly. He's just an incredible kid.” A kid who is playing a kid’s game and in the right place at the right time. JP brought the energy all day. ⚡️@JarrenPurify pic.twitter.com/BaH5BAY1mN
AND RECOGNIZE HIS PASSION AND EXCITEMENT!
If you still think bunting doesn’t have a positive place in our game,
IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP#BuntLife#CreateChaos
pic.twitter.com/s0qfJ1Y0hk
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