If Tuesday wasn't Rachel Rook at her best, look out.
Republic's senior pitcher struck out 15 and allowed only one hit on Tuesday as the Tigers pulled away from Ozark 5-1 at Republic High School.
The scary thing for Republic's opponents? Rook wasn't at her best.
"She didn't have her best stuff, her best control, but she went out there and gutted through it," Republic coach Lee Dishman said. "She just kept going after them and getting outs the way she usually gets outs."
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Eight of the first nine outs Rook recorded on Tuesday were strikeouts. She carried a no-hitter one out into the sixth inning until Kara Ford's well-struck liner landed safely in left field–the only ball that got out of the infield for Ozark. Rook's only problems Tuesday were self-induced. She hit four batters and walked another.
Ozark (7-3, 2-2 Central Ozark Conference) took the early lead, scoring a first inning run off two hit-by-pitches and a throwing error. It didn't last. Republic (10-3, 4-0 COC) strung four hits together in the bottom of the inning, including RBI knocks from Taylor Hulland and Julia Higgins that put Republic in front 2-1.
"For them to pick me up like that, it was a little boost to me," Rook said. "I felt a little better after that."
Rook and Ozark starter Brooke Pridgen settled in from there, keeping the game 2-1 until the sixth inning, when Ozark loaded the bases with two outs in the inning off Ford's single and a pair of hit-batsmen. That's when Dishman made a trip to the pitcher's circle.
"Usually when I go out there, we have a little heart-to-heart talk," he said. "She adjusts, and she makes things happen. You just have to go out and make Rachel mad every once in awhile, and she locks in a little better and gets things done."
Whatever was said must've worked. Rook struck out the next batter looking, ending Ozark's threat.
In the bottom of the sixth, Republic put the game away. Ally Stolte singled, advanced from first-to-third on a sac bunt by Megan Thorne, and came home on Alyssa Roth's suicide squeeze. Two batters later, Kami Holt clubbed a two-run shot over the fence in right-center.
"Great job to my kids for executing all day at the plate," Dishman said. "We had good swings. Ozark's not a team that's going to make mistakes so you have to put things on them."
Holt finished 2-for-4 at the plate, as did Sydney Phillips. Stolte went 1-for-1 with a walk and hit-by-pitch.
Ozark 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Republic 2 0 0 0 0 3 X 5 9 1
WP-Rook
LP-Pridgen
Hits
Ozark: Ford
Republic: Holt 2 (HR), Phillips 2, Summers (2B), Hulland, Higgins, Stolte, Roth
