Nineteen days ago, Republic’s season looked finished. The Lady Tigers had lost five of six and sat at 11–13. On Tuesday night in Ozark, they climbed all the way back—coming from behind to win 5–4 and claim their first district championship since 2018.
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“It’s just these girls,” said coach Lee Dishman. “It took us a while to mature throughout the year, but once we made the turn, it’s been 23 girls with a group effort and a pretty close-knit senior class that has just led the way and fought the battles, and they’re coming out on top.”
The game followed a familiar script. On September 2, Republic had trailed Ozark 3–0 on the same field before rallying to win. This time, Ozark struck early again. Avery Tennison homered in the first, and two more runs in the third made it 3–0.
“We were kind of down in the dumps a little bit at first there,” Dishman said. “And then as we got to going and got to going and kept talking to them, I told the girls, ‘It’s seven rounds. We’ve got to fight for seven rounds.’”
Republic began chipping away in the fourth. Maddie Taylor singled with one out, Kara Goeke reached on a two-out error, and Emma Ellison drilled a single to center that scored both runners, cutting the deficit to 3–2.
Ozark threatened to break it open in the fifth when its first two batters reached base. Republic coach Lee Dishman turned to sophomore Kendra Goeke, who needed just three ground balls to escape with only one run allowed. She followed with a perfect sixth inning, keeping Republic within reach.
The Lady Tigers took advantage. Jayma Pitchford opened the bottom of the fifth with a single and scored after Addie Brown singled and Ozark committed another error. That trimmed the Ozark lead to 4–3. In the sixth, Kara Goeke singled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and a sacrifice by Ellison, and scored on Kaityn Stewart’s groundout to tie it 4–4.
Senior Piper Dishman pitched the seventh and worked out of trouble, striking out Ginny Gallivan with two on to end the inning. That brought up Republic’s final at-bat.
“Once we got it tied up there going into the bottom of the seventh,” he said, “I said ‘It’s knockout time,’ and they just went ahead and knocked ’em out.”
Paige Elsenraat walked, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch. After two more walks loaded the bases, Ozark was one out from escaping when Kara Goeke—facing a one-ball, two-strike count—lined a ball over the right fielder’s head. Elsenraat raced home with the winning run, and the Lady Tigers poured onto the field.
The win capped Republic’s fifth straight victory and its 11th in the last 12 games. Under Dishman, Republic has now won three district titles—all of them ending on walk-off hits, in 2014, 2018, and 2025.
“You know, there’s only eight teams left now in the state and you’re in the top eight,” Dishman said, “but I told the girls that’s not the highlight of our week, ’cause Saturday’s gonna be the highlight of our week when we go to the final four in our hometown of Springfield.”
The district championship sends Republic to the Class 5 state quarterfinals for the first time since 2009, and for the first time under Dishman, who is in his final season as head coach. The Lady Tigers are scheduled to host the quarterfinal game against Raymore-Peculiar or Neosho on Saturday.
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