Republic’s offense opened the 2025 baseball season with a bang on Thursday, crushing Hillcrest 16-8 behind the big bats of Brennan Overstreet and Isaac White. Overstreet hit a three-run homer and White nearly hit for the cycle.
Republic took a 1-0 lead in the first when White’s triple drove in Jackson Overstreet. After adding another run in the second, the Tigers broke the game open in the third. White scored on Preston McCracken’s single, and Cooper Pilkinton’s hit made it 4-0. Overstreet then delivered the big blow, a three-run homer to left that pushed the lead to 7-0.
The Tigers added four more in the fourth, including two runs driven in by Overstreet’s single. That made the score 11-0.
Cannon Ellison started for Republic and was unhittable through four innings. He struck out five and walked two before being lifted. Hillcrest scored six runs in the fifth against reliever Tristin Coon, but Republic answered with five more runs over the final three innings to secure the win. Jackson Overstreet pitched the final two innings, striking out three to close out the victory.
“I felt pretty good. A lot better than I did in the jamboree. We kept my pitch count pretty low, too, and I didn’t let any runs or hits,” Ellison said of his outing.
Despite the cold conditions — game-time wind chill was in the 30s — Ellison found his rhythm on the mound. “When we first got here, I was cold, but then after warming up and keeping moving, I was fine,” he said.
White finished a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a triple, double, and single. Overstreet, in his first varsity start, drove in five runs, including his third-inning homer.
“It was a two-strike (count). I was just trying to protect. I tried barreling one out, and I guess the wind carried it out. I thought it was a pop-up, but the wind carried it,” Overstreet said.
Overstreet said he was feeling good at the plate when the game began. “I was just feeling really confident. I know I’ve put in work all off-season. It paid off today,” he said.
Pilkinton collected two hits and two RBIs, while Jackson Overstreet doubled and drove in three. Ryder Smith went 1-for-2 with an RBI and scored twice. Cooper Thomas recorded his first career varsity hit with an RBI single in the seventh inning.
The Tigers improve to 1-0. Hillcrest is 0-1. Republic hosts Skiatook, Oklahoma, on Friday at 3:00. That game had originally been scheduled for 2:00.
