The Republic softball team had its season put in the deep freeze by a quarantine two weeks ago – and when they returned to the field Wednesday evening, their bats hadn’t thawed out. Republic scored just one run in a 6-1 loss at Willard. In the four games before the forced break, had scored 52 runs.
(See photo gallery below.)
The Lady Tigers scored a single run when Kaitlyn Ragsdale bunted for a single to lead off, stole second, took third on a wild throw, and came around to score on a safety squeeze by Jenna Belcher.
Willard took a 2-1 lead when Allison Miller slugged her fifth home run of the year, a two-run blast to center field. A single run in the third and two more in the fourth made the lead 5-1. Willard finished the scoring in the bottom of the fifth with one more tally.
The game was the first since September 8 for Republic. The Lady Tigers managed just five base hits. They wasted one scoring opportunity after A.J. Fenske led off with a triple and was stranded at third base.
Republic falls to 3-2 overall. They’re 1-1 in the Central Ozark Conference. The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak against Willard for Republic. Willard improves to 6-6 overall.
Republic travels to Joplin tomorrow. Republic Tiger Sports will broadcast the game live.
Photos by David Brazeal
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