Mason Mitchell took one for the team, and it won his team the game. Mitchell got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning, forcing home Gavyn Beckner and delivering a marathon 4-3 victory to the Tigers at home against Branson Tuesday.
Beckner was 3-for-5 at the plate, and in addition to scoring the winning run, he drove home two. He also started the game on the mound and pitched well, but left in the top of the 7th inning with the game tied 3-3. Beckner’s second base hit of the day was the 100th of his career.
Trace Harrington earned the win in relief with one of the best pitching performances of the season. He entered the game with two runners on base and one out, striking out two batters to get out of the jam in the top of the seventh. He struck out the first five batters he faced, and he retired eight in a row before walking Andrew Bristow to lead off the tenth. He struck out two more, walked another batter, then struck out another batter to end the inning. In all, he pitched 3 2/3 innings, striking out nine, walking two, and not allowing a base hit.
Republic scored a run in the top of the first inning, but could have scored a lot more. The first four batters reached base, including Collin Myers, who hit a leadoff double and came in to score on a single by Beckner. But with the bases loaded and nobody out, Branson pitcher Elijah Seitz coaxed a comebacker to the mound from Wyatt Woods, leading to a forceout at home. He struck out Mitchell and got Gunner Ellison to fly out to end the threat with Republic ahead 1-0.
After Branson tied the game in the top of the second, Republic scored a second run the same way it had scored its first. Myers got a base hit and scored on a single by Beckner to give Republic a 2-1 lead.
Branson scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead, but Republic evened the score in the bottom of the inning. Devon Hughes reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Myers to make it 3-3.
The four pitchers — Beckner and Harrington for Republic, Seitz and Andrew Bristow for Branson — cruised through the middle innings. After getting five base hits in the first two innings, Republic didn’t get another hit until the bottom of the seventh. Neither team scored from the fifth inning on — until Republic finally scratched out the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
The winning rally started on a base hit by Beckner leading off. He went to second on a passed ball, and when Harrington grounded the ball to the left side, Branson shortstop Jansen Poor considered throwing to third base to get Beckner. When he did throw to first, the first baseman came off the bag and Harrington was safe. With runners at first and third, Branson intentionally walked Wyatt Woods, setting up the game-winning hit-by-pitch of Mitchell.
The win is the second straight for Republic, and improves the Tigers’ record to 12-9. Republic travels to Ozark Wednesday to finish a game that was suspended because of lightning and rain earlier this season. The game will resume at 3 pm. Republic led 4-3 and had a runner on first base in the top of the fourth inning when play was suspended.
