From a 7-7 record on April 13, Republic has put itself within a win of a Central Ozark Conference title. The Tigers took a big step along that path Tuesday night at home, knocking off Nixa (23-6) behind a complete game from Gavyn Beckner, 7-2.
The win puts Republic in a three-way tie for first place with two other teams — Willard and Webb City. All three teams have 7-1 records with one game remaining. Willard and Webb City will play each other, and the winner of that game will be 8-1, guaranteeing a share of the league title. Republic will play Neosho Wednesday, and can also clinch a share of the championship with a win. Nixa cannot win the COC with two losses, because either Willard or Webb City will finish with only one loss.
Tuesday at Republic, Connor Sandridge broke out of a slump with two of the biggest at-bats of the season. He drove in the first two runs of the game to give the Tigers an early lead. His first RBI was a clutch two-out triple to the fence in left center field that scored Gunner Ellison with two out in the second inning. Sandridge drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the third to put Republic ahead 2-0.
After Nixa scored a run in the fifth inning to make the score 2-1, Republic added another in the bottom of the frame, again with two outs. Trace Harrington walked and stole second — his first stolen base of the season. With a two-strike count, Wyatt Woods lined the ball into right field, driving in Harrington to give Republic a 3-1 lead.
Nixa scored another single run in the sixth inning, but the Tigers busted the game open in the bottom half. Devon Hughes and Connor Sandridge singled and Collin Myers walked to load the bases with no one out. Garrett Lester walked to drive in a run, and Trace Harrington drove in a run with a groundout to make the score 5-2. Two more runs scored on a throwing error by Nixa.
Gavyn Beckner allowed two base runners with two outs in the seventh, but closed out the game with a strikeout of Caeden Cloud. He finished the game with four strikeouts, walking five and allowing just four hits and two runs in seven innings. The win pushes his record to 5-1.
Jackson Gamble started and took the loss for Nixa.
Sandridge was 2-for-2 with two runs batted in and a run score to lead the offense. Ellison also had two hits and a walk to go along with a run scored.
Coach Curt Plotner said his team’s turnaround after a slow start doesn’t surprise him.
“I told some people before that with the schedule we played, we may struggle to be .500 through 15 games or so, but I really liked our team. I love our guys,” he said. “We’ve got two top-of-the-rotation-type arms and the other guys have been fantastic as well. We’ve been fortunate to win some of the games we’ve won, but I’m just proud of our kids.”
A noticeable change in the Tigers over the past three weeks has been their defense, which has improved since a lackluster start.
“We’ve had one error or less in 13 of our last 14 games, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence on why we’re starting to win some games,” Plotner said. “We were really good offensively early, and we’ve slowed down a little bit there. We’ve still been good, but we’ve been catching the baseball and that’s been a big difference.
Republic improves to 16-9 overall and 7-1 in the COC. The Tigers can clinch a tie for the conference title Wednesday when they host Neosho. Game time is set for 4:30, and Republic Tiger Sports will carry the game live.
