With all the talent in the Republic softball lineup, you might not be that surprised to hear that the Lady Tigers hit three home runs in one inning. But A.J. Fenske, Avery Romans, and Kaitlyn Ragsdale?
Those were the unlikely power sources in a five-run second inning, lifting Republic to a 10-3 win over Carthage in a conference game at home Tuesday. For Romans and Ragsdale, it was the first time they’d hit a home run during a game.
“I knew I was starting off the inning and I needed to get the team going,” Fenske says of her leadoff homer. “I just saw that pitch. It was right down the middle and I was ready to hit it.”
Fenske almost hit a second home run later in the night, blasting the ball off the top of the fence in right field.
Romans hit a two-run homer later in the inning. “I was just trying to get a base hit, not really a home run. It was my first in a game, which is kind of exciting.”
Ragsdale, whose home run may have been most unlikely of all, didn’t take anything for granted when she hit the ball.
“Honestly, I never hit a home run in a game, so I just kept on running because I didn’t want to take a chance of getting out,” she says. “But I thought there was a small possibility it would go out.”
In addition to her home run, Fenske was the winning pitcher, allowing just three runs in seven innings of work.
Republic improves to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Central Ozark Conference. They’ll be at home for a tournament Friday and Saturday.
