Jackson Gamble’s two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted second-seeded Nixa to a 4-2 victory over seventh-seeded Republic in the Class 6 District 6 quarterfinals Wednesday at Glendale High School in Springfield.
Republic jumped ahead early when Cannon Ellison belted a two-run homer in the first inning, his first home run of the season. Zayden Danielson had singled ahead of Ellison’s blast to right field. The Tigers never trailed until the final inning, but Nixa took advantage of Republic errors to score a run in the second inning and another in the fourth. Max Nicoll scored on Tyler Yonkers’ sacrifice fly in the second. In the fourth, Wyatt Mabe crossed the plate when Yonkers hit a high hopper that tipped off Ellison’s glove, allowing him to reach base.
The game remained deadlocked 2-2 through nine innings before Nixa seized won it on a walk-off in the 10th. Mabe advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting up Gamble’s decisive two-run homer to left field.
Ellison pitched seven strong innings for Republic, allowing two runs (none earned) on three hits while striking out one and walking three.
“He pitched great, had the home run,” Republic coach Curt Plotner said of Ellison. “You know, kind of a big swing there in the first inning that you don’t really expect, but gave himself runs to work with and just pitched his tail off. You know, it’s hard to keep those guys in check. They’re so good.”
Cooper Thomas took the loss in relief, despite working 2 1/3 strong innings.
Gamble started for Nixa, pitching 7 2/3 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. Mason Duncan worked the final two innings in relief to pick up the win.
Republic’s defensive miscues proved costly against a Nixa team that had beaten the Tigers 10-0 earlier this season. The Tigers committed three errors while the Eagles played error-free baseball.
“That’s just baseball,” Plotner said. “We had some guys playing in some positions that they haven’t had a lot of reps at, just injuries and things that we can’t control. But ultimately our kids battled the whole game and just came out on the wrong end of a really good baseball game.”
At the plate, Danielson and Nolan Lashley paced Republic with two hits. Ellison drove in both Tiger runs with his first-inning homer.
Republic had runners in scoring position in each of the final four innings but failed to score. The extra-inning affair featured both teams leaving runners in scoring position multiple times, with pitchers on both sides working out of tight spots throughout the contest.
“I’m just proud of our seniors,” Plotner said. “I was debating on what to do before the game and how to go about our lineup. And I thought, there’s seven guys that are playing for their careers today. And so we ran them all out there and got contributions from all of them. And I’m just super proud of the way they competed today.”
The loss ended Republic’s season at 15-15. Nixa improved to 24-10 and advanced to the district semifinals.
