With seven seniors in its starting lineup, Webb City is well aware of Republic’s recent dominance of the Central Ozark Conference. But they didn’t let that intimidate them Tuesday night. The Cardinals struck early and often on the way to an 11-0 win in six innings at Republic Tuesday.
It was the first COC loss for Republic since October 3, 2014, against Ozark.
Webb City scored two runs in the first, three in the second, and three in the third. They tacked on three more in the sixth to force an early end to the game. In addition to banging out 13 hits, the Cardinals also took advantage of seven Republic errors.
Coach Lee Dishman says Webb City’s experienced team exposed the Lady Tigers’ youth.
“Defensively, we didn’t play very well, and early on we didn’t pitch very well,” he says. “We’re going to show some nights that we’re young. We played a little scared. But we’ll pick it up…and figure it out.”
Dishman says the long COC winning streak, which included two full undefeated seasons, is a credit to the players who’ve worn the uniform the past couple of seasons.
“It shows that our program has had really good leaders the last couple years,” he says.
Julia Higgins and Kaitlyn Ragsdale each had two base hits to lead the Lady Tigers. Ragsdale stole another base, bringing her season total to 12. She was also caught stealing for the first time this year.
Republic falls to 5-2. The Lady Tigers travel to Nixa Thursday.
