Republic stunned top-seeded Glendale 3-2 in eight innings Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 6 District 6 tournament at Ozark. The Tigers, seeded eighth, struck for two runs in the first inning, weathered a tying rally in the sixth, and broke the deadlock in the eighth on Brennan Overstreet’s RBI single.
Overstreet was a hero at the plate and on the mound. In addition to knocking in the winning run, Overstreet went the distance as the starting pitcher. He allowed two runs — one earned — on six hits over eight innings. He struck out four and walked four and needed only 97 pitches. Sixty-six of his pitches were strikes.
Republic struck quickly to take an early lead. Nolan Lashley led off the top of the first with a single and reached second on an outfield error. Cooper Thomas moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Landon Blankenship walked. Overstreet’s groundout brought home Lashley, and Landon Perkins followed with an RBI single that scored Blankenship for a 2-0 lead.
Glendale got on the board in the third. Alex McCauley led off with a single, and courtesy runner Colin Roach reached second on a sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk to Brady Yates, Reed Jackson hit into a fielder’s choice that erased Yates at second. An error on the play allowed Roach to score, trimming the lead to 2-1.
The Falcons tied it 2-2 in the sixth. Reed Jackson singled with one out, Walker Ransdell walked, and Charlie Habel singled to load the bases. Kaden Tuhey’s groundout brought home the tying run.
Glendale put two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, including a second intentional walk to Yates. But Overstreet coaxed pinch-hitter Colin Roach to pop out to third baseman Greg Hicks, shutting down the threat.
Republic regained the lead in the eighth. Lashley led off with his third single of the night. Thomas sacrificed him to second, and Blankenship’s groundout pushed him to third. Overstreet lined a single to center to score Lashley.
Overstreet returned to the mound and closed it out. Walker Ransdell singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth, but Overstreet got a fielder’s choice, a popout and a groundout to end the game.
Lashley finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Perkins went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Overstreet drove in two runs.
Glendale starter Kyle Julian took the loss, allowing three earned runs on eight hits in 7 2/3 innings while striking out five and walking two.
“I’ve been doing this for a while and I know that anything can happen in the postseason, and we just needed to go out and believe we can win,” coach Curt Plotner said. “We played really good the last four games of the regular season, (and) had a little bit of momentum going. Brennan was fantastic.”
Plotner pointed to the early lead.
“Offensively that’s just kind of how we’re built. We’ve got to play with the lead early,” he said. “If we get behind big, it’s hard for us to catch up.”
Republic advances to the district semifinals against fourth-seeded Ozark Thursday at 4:00.
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