A.J. Calhoon allowed just one bloop single and struck out 12 in a dominating performance, leading Republic to a 10-0 win over Cassville at home Wednesday.
Calhoon struck out the first seven batters he faced, before walking a batter in the bottom of the third. Only one Cassville batter managed to hit the ball out of the infield—and even then, just barely. The lone Wildcat hit of the game came on a softly hit pop-up that landed in shallow right field after ticking off the tip of the glove of second baseman Clayton Crowley. That happened with one out in the top of the fourth, and Calhoon struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
Republic scored three runs in the top of the first inning without a base hit, thanks to two Cassville errors, a walk, a wild pitch, and an RBI groundout by Landin Sigman. The Tigers added six more in the fourth, and tacked on the final run in the fifth to end the game early.
Easton Prevo paced the offense with a double, a single, and a run scored. Calhoon also reached base twice, in addition to his performance on the mound, with a base hit and a hit-by-pitch. Duvall and Crowley were both 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Cavener also scored twice and drove in a run. Beck singled, walked, and had two RBIs. Nick Rose had an RBI single to drive in the tenth and final run.
Republic improves to 3-4.