By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
It’s going to be a little strange watching Republic softball this season. The usual pop of the catcher’s mitt will sound a little softer. The strike three calls will be a tad less common. All of this because for the first time in four years, there will be no Rachel Rook.
The indisputable best pitcher in the Ozarks for the past three years is graduated and gone. Off to Southeast Missouri State, Rook is, and she’s taken her historically good strikeout numbers (1,021 for her career, good for seventh all-time in Missouri) with her.
Rook and Republic went out in a pitcher’s duel last fall, losing 1-0 to McDonald County in a district title matchup.
And then there’s Kami Holt. The most prolific power bat in Republic’s program history, Holt hit eight dingers her senior season with the Tigers on her way to setting the program’s career home run record.
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But while much of last year’s high-end talent is gone, Lee Dishman’s consistently successful program (Republic is averaging 19 wins per season this decade) should continue to be just that. And it starts with a good, and young, lineup.
Ally Stolte will be the face of Republic softball this season. Stolte hit .389 last year with six home runs, 25 RBIs, 22 runs and a 1.208 OPS.
Dishman also pointed to Karleigh Summers (.323 AVG., 2 HR), Megan Thorne (.313 AVG.) and Julie Higgins (.274 AVG., 2 HR) as returning bats who should find themselves in the middle of Republic’s order.
“We return quite a bit of our lineup,” Dishman said. “We’re going to swing it OK. We’re going to score some runs. In the middle of our lineup we’ve got a lot of girls who’ve been around for quite a while, and they should produce.
“We’re going to have some speed at the top of the order to help them out and if they can get on base and let the bigger girls hit them in then we should be just fine.”
Rylie Laub is one of those top-of-the order speedsters. Just a sophomore, Laub only had one at-bat last year.
“Our three-through-six are girls have seen it and done it. It’ll just be up for the younger girls to produce for them,” Dishman said.
Kaitlin Ragsdale is another exciting new face. Just read what Dishman had to say about this freshman:
“She is one of the most athletic girls I’ve ever coached. Plays basketball too. She’s a threat for Republic sports, pretty much. She is a Div. 1 speed kid. She’s going to be a player to watch.”
So, who, exactly, gets the honor of replacing Rook?
“That’s not possible,” Dishman said.
Fair, but the answer is junior Livia Collier, who has a pretty cool story of her own. Collier was going to make her varsity debut last season before tearing her labrum in travel ball. Keep an eye on Collier, as Dishman said she also swings a good bat.
“She’ll pitch primarily, then we have three freshmen who will throw quite a bit too,” Dishman said. “Livy is a contact pitcher. She’s not gonna blow by you. It’s going to make us play defense and if we can do that we’ll be fine.”
