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By Matt Turer / @MattTurer
REPUBLIC, Mo. — Bottom of the seventh, two outs and the winning run on third in the district championship.
Megan Weis delivered.
Weis scored fellow junior Riley Laub with a two-out single in the seventh inning, and the Republic Tigers fought all the way back from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Webb City Cardinals 7-6 in the Class 4 District 11 championship.
“I was so excited,” Weis said. “I had a plan to attack the first pitch. It’s so amazing. Our season was on the line and that just makes it 10-times better knowing we get to move on.”
After giving up a run in the top of the sixth that put them behind again after tying the game 5-5, the Tigers regrouped with single runs in the final two innings that led to a celebration and their first district title since 2014.
“That’s the story of our season,” Tigers head coach Lee Dishman said. “We tend to get down sometimes but our girls are relentless and they just keep competing.”
Republic’s sectional is Wednesday against either Lee’s Summit West or Raymore-Peculiar.
Webb City went up 6-5 in the sixth inning after Keira Jackson tripled to the corner in right with one out and later scored on a throwing error. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Megan Thorne tied things back up 6-6 with a solo home run.
Laub started Republic’s comeback with a three-run homer in the second inning. It was the first home run of her career. She then started the seventh with a leadoff single, advancing to second on Emma White’s sacrifice bunt.
“It’s just a Laub kind of day,” Dishman said.
“After Laub hit that home run, that turned our energy around,” Julia Higgins, who tied the game 5-5 with a two-run homer in the third, said.
Avery Romans and the Tigers allowed just one run on six hits over the game’s final five innings after the Cardinals scored five runs on three hits and three errors in the first two frames. Haidyn Berry’s three-run dinger without an out in the first inning put Webb City up 3-0. In the second, one-out singles by Renae Gillmore and Alexandra Vanzant pushed the Cardinals ahead 5-0.
“It’s hard when you’re down as a pitcher,” Romans said. “It’s a hard position. It’s a lonely place. But I kept getting through it but my defense was behind me and I kept throwing strikes.”
The Cardinals finish the season 18-11-1 and graduate three seniors.
“It was a hard-fought game all the way through,” head coach Shauna Friend said. “We came out hot with the bats and then cooled off a little bit. Republic came through with some timely hits.
“Incredibly proud of this team the entire year. Couldn’t ask for a better group of girls.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
HAMMERIN’ HIGGINS
The senior catcher set Republic’s all-time single-season home run record when her 14th of the season tied the game 5-5 in the third inning. The two-run shot scored Weis.
“[Accomplishing this] means everything to me,” an emotional Higgins said after the celebration. “I moved here and I knew they were the best program around. Dishman is the best coach I’ve had in my entire life. I’ll never play for anyone like him. So it means a lot to do that for him and for our team. Everyone has wanted this (district title) for a long time and the whole team deserves it.”
Higgins finished the season with 60 RBIs, the second most all-time in a single season in Missouri state high school history.
“Julia is the hardest working kid you’ll ever see,” Dishman said. “You want your kids to be around her and learn from Julia. Her hard work has paid off and she’s had the best offensive season that Republic has ever seen.”
NOTABLE STAT LINES
Republic: Kaitlin Ragsdale finished 2-for-4 … Weis finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run … Higgins went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs … Thorne was 1-for-3 with a homer … Laub finished 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs.
Webb City: Berry finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs … Gillmore went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI … Tyndall finished 2-for-4.
SCORING
WEB 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 9 | 1 |
REP 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 7 | 9 | 4 |
SCORING PLAYS
Cardinals – Top 1st
Berry homered to left, Gillmore and Vanzant scored // 3-0 WEB
Cardinals – Top 2nd
Gillmore singled to left, Culver scored // 4-0 WEB
Vanzant singled to center, Darnell scored // 5-0 WEB
Tigers – Bottom 2nd
Laub homered to left, Thorne and Romans scored // 5-3 WEB
Tigers – Bottom 3rd
Higgins homered to center, Weis scored // 5-5 tie
Cardinals – Top 6th
Darnell lined out to first, Jackson scored from third on throwing error // 6-5 WEB
Tigers – Bottom 6th
Thorne homered to left // 6-6 tie
Tigers – Bottom 7th
Weis singled to left, Laub scored // 7-6 REP
