Republic topples Ozark after long drought for Plotner

In the 10 years since Curt Plotner arrived at Republic as an assistant baseball coach, the Tigers had never beaten Ozark. Until last week.
Republic grabbed an early lead, lost it, then put together a two-out rally to win the game at Ozark in the eighth inning, 8-6. Senior Tyler Cavener played the starring role, going 4-for-4, including a bases-loaded single that drove home the eventual game-winning runs for Republic. Cavener had three RBIs.
Clayton Crowley was on base four times. He was 3-for-3 with a walk, and he scored twice.
“We just competed. You look at how we scored in the eighth inning, we had two outs and nobody on base. The guys didn’t quit,” said Plotner. “That’s something we’ve struggled with in the past, so it was good to see those guys step up in that situation and get the job done and compete.”
Republic took the lead in the top of the first when Cavener singled home Jaden Duvall. The Tigers stretched their lead to 4-0 on Crowley’s RBI double and a subse- quent Ozark error that al- lowed two more runners to cross the plate.
Ozark scored a pair of runs to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth, then tied the game in the sixth with a two-out, bases- loaded single. Then in the bottom of the seventh, Ozark seemed poised to deliver another disappointing loss to Republic. After a leadoff error, Ozark had a runner on third base with one out, but Republic pitcher Vincent Pyeatt coaxed a pop up to third baseman Nick Rose, then struck out a batter to retire the side.
In the eighth, Republic got a leadoff single, but lost the runner trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. With two outs and no one on base, Clayton Crowley, Jaden Duvall, and Easton Prevo all singled to load the bases, setting up Cavener’s hero- ics. He fell in the hole 0-2, fouled off three more pitches, and eventually grounded a ball into the hole on the left side of the infield, scoring two runs.
In the bottom of the eighth, Pyeatt struck out the leadoff man, then got the second-out on a fantastic over-the-shoulder grab by shortstop Easton Prevo in foul territory up the third base line. Jaden Duvall re-
corded the final out on a fly ball to center field.
Jared Hughes started the game on the mound. He pitched five innings, allow- ing two runs (one earned) on three hits. He struck out six and walked three. Pyeatt picked up the win with three innings of relief work, strik- ing out two, walking two and allowing two hits.
Other baseball results
Republic 8 Cassville 2 Four fourth-inning doubles propelled the Tigers past
Cassville on the road. Jordan Carter picked up his first career pitching win, allowing two runs in four innings of work. Pyeatt pitched three shutout innings in relief. Nick Rose scored two runs for the Tigers.
Kearney 10 Republic 5 Kearney scored four runs
in the first inning, tacked on another run in the second, and never looked back in a 10-5 win at Republic. All five of Republic’s runs came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Clayton Crowley took the loss for Republic.
Aurora 3 Republic 1 Republic’s Jordan Carter
kept Aurora’s lineup under control, but the Tigers had a hard time generating offense against the Houn’ Dawgs’ pitching. The Tigers man- aged just three hits in a 3-1 loss. For the second straight game, Republic didn’t score until the bottom of the sev- enth inning.
Republic 9 Camdenton 7 Republic built a 7-0 lead
against Camdenton and managed to make it hold up in a 9-7 slugfest. The
Tigers scored five runs in the first inning and two in the second. Camdenton cut the lead to 7-6 in the top of the fifth, but the Tigers scored single tallies in the fifth and sixth to add some insurance. Republic had 12 hits—three of them by Tyler Cavener.

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Lawrence County Record

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