By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Last season ended earlier than expected for Republic — the 18-10 Lady Tigers fell in the Class 4 District 11 championship — but optimism abounds.
Head coach Lee Dishman believes the experience gained by last season’s young Lady Tigers’ squad will pay big dividends this fall.
“We lost in the district championship game against a very good Webb City team,” Dishman said. “We had some younger girls step up and play some big roles throughout the year for us.”
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With only three graduated seniors missing from last season’s starting lineup in Megan Weis (.479 BA), Riley Laub (.364 BA) and Katie Anderson (.341 BA) Republic returns a deep, experienced squad to its district title hunt.
Weis and Anderson will continue their respective athletic careers this fall at Williams Baptist University.
The Lady Tigers will be led this season by a quartet of seniors, including two-time all-state shortstop Kaitlin Ragsdale (.439 BA, 30 SB), third base AJ Fenske (.359 BA, 7 HR, 28 RBI), pitcher Avery Romans (.325 BA, 12-7) and second base Emma White. Junior pitcher/designated player Mara Lakey (.280 BA, 3-0) also returns to the lineup.
“Our lineup will have a good mixture of speed and power,” Dishman said. “We will once again key off Ragsdale at the top of the lineup. The girls in the middle have some pop, which includes AJ Fenske, who had really good power numbers last fall. There are some younger players that could surprise us in the fall and become a huge X-factor for us. They have the ability, but need to prove some things.”
Those varsity newcomers include junior outfielder Jaci West, sophomore catcher Ella Tattershall, sophomore first base/outfielder Emmaleee Essary, sophomore outfielder Ella Young and senior first base Claire Summers.
While there are some holes needing to be filled in the outfield, Dishman expects his team’s defense to be a key factor as the season begins and his young outfielders adapt to the varsity game.
“We are going to have all new faces in the outfield this fall,” Dishman said. “If these young girls can continue to grow I believe come district time we could surprise some people. We bring back the heart of our infield and they are very seasoned.”
In the circle, three-year starter Romans will, once again, look to control opposing hitters.
“We will have two pitchers with the potential of a third pitcher seeing innings in the circle this fall,” Dishman said. “We return Avery Romans who has seen most of the varsity innings since her freshman year. She has been in some big games over her career here at Republic. We also have Mara Lakey coming back for her junior year. Mara gives us a different look as she is left handed. Last year we put her in the fire against some quality teams and she reacted well.”
Republic’s season is set to open Aug. 28 against Monett.
