Softball team falters in sectionals

Republic’s softball team came from behind in more than half of their wins this season, but one last comeback wasn’t in the cards in a state sectional loss at Ray-Pec High School. The Lady Tigers ended their season with an 11–2 loss to the Panthers, finishing with a 21–7 record.
Ray-Pec pitcher Camryn Stickel was unhittable after a first-inning Republic rally plated two runs and gave the Lady Tigers a brief 2–1 lead. Republic didn’t get a base hit after the first inning. Stickel struck out 16 batters in all.
Republic coach Lee Dishman said he knew Stickel would be a big challenge for his team’s lineup, despite its offensive firepower.
“She’s now 17–3 with an earned run average under 1.00. She’s good,” says Dishman. “We got a couple runs there in the first–A.J. stepped up–and [Stickel] just kind of settled in, and she was on.”
Republic batted last, even though Ray-Pec hosted the game. After Ray-Pec took a 1–0 lead, the Lady Tigers scored their only two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kaitlyn Ragsdale led off with a single and stole second base. Julia Higgins walked, and A.J. Fenske drove them both home with a double.
From there, it was all Ray-Pec. The Panthers tied the game 2–2 in the second, took a 4–2 lead in the third, and made it 5–2 in the fourth inning. Ray-Pec broke the game open in the sixth, scoring six runs on eight hits, including a home run by Kate Lewis.
Dishman says he will remember this team for the leadership shown by the older players on the roster, and for its never-give-up attitude.
“This team fought all season. It didn’t matter when we got down or how much we got down. They always thought they were in the game and they’d come back. We were just on the short end of it tonight.”
Republic will graduate four seniors off this year’s team: Addi Cantrell, Livi Collier, Julia Higgins, and Megan Thorney.
The Lady Tigers ended the season with a school-record 37 home runs, putting them at fourth all-time in the Missouri record books. They also broke the school single-season doubles mark. Higgins broke multiple records, including single-season school marks for home runs (14) and RBIs (60). Ragsdale broke a record for runs scored (44).