Republic baseball splits four games at Carthage Festival

Republic went 2-2 at the Carthage Festival, bouncing back from Tuesday's no-hit loss at Rogersville with an 11-1 rout of Aurora before dropping a 7-1 decision to Winnetonka and splitting Saturday's doubleheader with losses to Summit Christian and a shutout win over West Plains.

The Tigers broke out of their offensive slump in Thursday's tournament opener against Aurora. Landon Perkins hit his first career varsity home run and made two spectacular defensive plays in right field as Republic won 11-1 in five innings. Preston McCracken went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, driving in four runs. Nolan Lashley added a two-run homer in a seven-run third inning that broke the game open.

Overstreet earned the win, allowing one earned run on four hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked just two after issuing walks to the first two batters of the game.

"To go from Rogersville to today is really nice," said Perkins. "I think we had a bad game at Rogersville, and today we bounced back. I think we're gonna keep bouncing back the whole weekend."

Against Winnetonka on Friday, Maddox West and Winnetonka's Dylan Kroll dueled through five scoreless innings before a two-out error in the sixth opened the door for six unearned runs in a 7-1 loss. Lashley doubled to lead off the game and scored on a McCracken single for the early lead, but Winnetonka tied it in the second and the game remained close until the sixth-inning collapse. West took the loss despite allowing just one earned run on nine hits over six innings.

Saturday's doubleheader began with an 8-inning, 4-3 loss to Summit Christian. Brooks Zumwalt, a University of Pittsburgh commit, hit two opposite-field home runs to drive in three runs for the Eagles.

Kyler Tate pitched seven strong innings for Republic, allowing six hits and three earned runs without issuing a walk. The Tigers led 2-0 after four innings on an RBI single by McCracken and a run that scored on a dropped third strike. Zumwalt's solo homer in the fourth cut the lead to 2-1, and his two-run shot in the sixth put Summit Christian ahead 3-2.

Republic tied it in the seventh when Fisher Moore walked, stole second and scored on a Chase Connell single. The game went to extra innings, where Summit Christian won it on a Jag Garrison single that scored Carter Jeffries.

The Tigers salvaged a split in the nightcap with a 4-0 shutout of West Plains behind Cooper Thomas' complete game. Perkins hit a first-inning grand slam for all the scoring Republic would need.

Thomas allowed four hits and struck out four on 97 pitches. He worked out of trouble twice, stranding runners on second and third with nobody out in the second inning and escaping a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fifth.

Republic improved to 3-4 overall after going 2-2 at the tournament. The Tigers had lost three straight games before the festival, including a 10-0 no-hit loss at Rogersville on Tuesday.