The Republic Lady Tigers are district softball champs for the sixth time in a row. They beat Reeds Spring 7-3 to capture the title at Bolivar Monday.
Hailey Johnson struck out 11 and reached base four times to lead Republic. She doubled to lead off the first, and that led to an unearned run that scored when Rachael Michaelis reached on an error later in the inning. Johnson also doubled in the second, setting up RBI hits by Amanda Davis and Payton Appleberry. The Lady Tigers led 4-0 after two innings.
Both offenses were quiet until the bottom of the sixth, when Republic scored three more insurance runs. A walk to Johnson, a groundout by Davis, and another hit by Appleberry put runners on first and third. Michaelis and Logan Keck followed with RBI hits, to make the score 7-0.
The game got interesting in the top of the 7th, thanks to some shaky defense by the Lady Tigers. Three singles and two infield errors made the score 7-3, and Reeds Spring had runners on first and third before Johnson struck out cleanup hitter Shailyn Brown to end the game.
Johnson and Appleberry each had two hits for Republic. They’ll play in the sectionals–the round of 16–Wednesday evening at Bolivar.