The Republic Tigers pulled one of the biggest baseball comebacks in school history when they clawed their way back from a 10-0 deficit to beat Branson 14-13 in eight innings Thursday in Republic.
The Tigers scored three in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game 13-13, then won it in the bottom of the 8th when Clayton Rose singled home Creed Smiley. Cole Hurst picked up the win after coming in to replace starter Riley Norris in the 3rd. Hurst allowed just two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in relief.
Branson had jumped ahead 3-0 after two innings, then scored seven more in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 10-0 lead. But Republic immediately started to climb back into the game when they scored six in the bottom of the innings to cut the Branson lead to 10-6.
Branson led 12-7 at the end of four innings, and 13-10 at the end of five.
Clayton Rose was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Tigers. Parker Nelson, Nathan Strobel, Riley Norris, and Cole Hurst each added two hits.
The win ends a five-game slide for Republic, and improves the Tigers’ overall record to 3-7.
