During a preseason interview, softball coach Lee Dishman said he thought his lineup would be able to score a lot of runs. If the preseason scrimmage performance is any indication, he was right.
The Lady Tigers banged out 32 runs in just nine innings during their scrimmage against Reeds Spring, Hillcrest, and Nixa. The Lady Tigers played three three-inning games, beating Reeds Spring 14-0 and Hillcrest 16-3, before the JV beat Nixa 2-0 in the final game.
“Our first team came out and just crushed the ball the first couple innings. We got off to an early start hitting the ball well, and it was contagious,” says Dishman. “We just started hitting balls in the gap. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
Republic’s scoring could have actually been higher, except for an 8-run limit per inning.
Saturday also marked the high school pitching debut of freshman Rachel Rook. She shut out Reeds Spring in three innings of work, and seemed to get better as she went along.
“The first two innings, she was a freshman. She was nervous, trying to figure herself out,” Dishman says. “The third inning, she just went out there and threw like she can, and dominated the other team. If she can throw like that, teams are going to have their hands full with her. ”
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