Republic’s baseball seniors were freshmen when coach Curt Plotner took over the program three years ago, so he wanted to make sure Senior Night was all about them. So all eight of them were in the starting lineup, and they helped deliver a 7-0 win over Neosho Tuesday.
“I told them before the game, they were my first group as freshmen and it was really important for me to get them all out there tonight. Some of them haven’t been playing regularly, and I know that’s hard on them, but I wanted them all out there tonight for that reason. I told them, ‘Let’s just take care of business and make the night all about them, and they did a good job.”
The star of the night was Vincent Pyeatt, who pitched six shutout innings, striking out ten batters in picking up the win. After Neosho’s Lane Yost singled in the first inning, Pyeatt didn’t allow a base hit the rest of the night.
“When he’s on, he does a really good job,” Plotner said. “One thing we haven’t been able to get yet is a complete game out of him, but it’s early still, and he’s still finding it a little bit. But we’ve got some big games coming up, and he’s going to be the guy we turn to.”
Republic got only four base hits, but Neosho pitchers combined to walk eight batters. The Tigers scored single runs in the first and third innings, two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, and a single run in the sixth.
Pyeatt walked three times and scored two runs. Jared Hughes drove in two runs with an RBI double. Bryce Messier, Gavyn Beckner, and Gavin Walker each had a base hit, as well.
After the game, Republic honored all eight seniors – Ryker Harrington, Kyle Hill, Jared Hughes, Bryce Messier, Richard Potter, Vicent Pyeatt, Brady Usgaard, and Gavin Walker.
“They were the ones that laid the foundation for what we’re going, and they’ve done a great job and are a big part of the turnaround,” Plotner said. “All your kids mean something to you, but I think those guys are a little extra special because of that.”