It was a battle of two undefeated teams at Republic’s softball field Monday, when the Lady Tigers hosted Monett. You can read the story, or watch the video package above.
Thorne Is Hall-of-Fame Bound
July 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Republic softball coach Mike Thorne will be inducted into the Missouri State High School Softball Hall of Fame. Thorne will go into the Hall with two other coaches during a ceremony in Columbia on July 30.
“It’s a big honor,” Thorne said. “It just means I’ve had a lot of good players. A lot of good assistant coaches. I called both (my assistants) yesterday and thanked them, because they’re a big part of it.”
Thorne has had two assistant coaches in his time at Republic. Kara Carr assisted for six seasons, and Jim Huson has been Thorne’s assistant for the past 11 years.
Thorne’s career record is 320-140 in 18 seasons. He has won 8 COC titles and 11 district titles. He also took the Lady Tigers to back-to-back Final Fours in 2008 and 2009. Republic finished 3rd and 4th in the state during those two years.
2011 will be Thorne’s final softball season as head coach. He has already announced he’ll retire as head coach after this year.
Lady Tigers Pound Kickapoo
September 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Republic Lady Tigers banged out 13 hits and took advantage of eight Kickapoo errors to beat the Lady Chiefs 13-3 Tuesday in Republic.
Payton Appleberry led the way with three base hits. The Lady Tigers scored four runs in the 2nd inning, four more in the 3rd, and five runs in the 4th.
Kickapoo scored all three of its runs in the 3rd, but never mounted another serious rally against Republic pitcher Stephanie Eckhoff. Eckhoff allowed just one earned run on four hits. She struck out two batters.
Lady Tigers Pound Hillcrest
August 31, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Republic Lady Tigers put on another offensive show in a 13-3 win over Hillcrest Tuesday. They banged out 20 hits on their way to a six-inning victory, and improved to 4-0.
Leadoff hitter Payton Appleberry was 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and was also hit by a pitch. Amanda Snider, who homered Monday, had two triples and knocked in four runs Tuesday. She was 3-for-4. Rachael Michaelis and Brooke Dutton also had 3 hits apiece for Republic.
Stephanie Eckhoff picked up another victory as the starting pitcher. She went all 6 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits. She struck out eight and walked two.
Republic scored two runs in the bottom of the 1st, then allowed Hillcrest to tie the game in the top of the 2nd. But the Lady Tigers scored three runs in the 3rd and six in the 4th to put the game away.
Lady Tigers Improve to 2-0
August 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Stephanie Eckhoff, Rachael Michaelis and Lakin Ramsey had 2 hits apiece, as the Lady Tigers powered past Reeds Spring 8-5 Thursday. Eckhoff also picked up her second win of the season on the mound.
The Wolves jumped on top 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning, before Republic tied the game in the next half-inning. Reeds Spring answered in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 4-2 lead.
In the top of the 5th, Republic exploded for 4 runs to take the lead. Reeds Spring cut the lead to 6-5, but two more runs by the Lady Tigers in the top of the 7th put the game away.
Reeds Spring out-hit Republic 11-9, but the Wolves committed four errors. Abbey Vernon picked up her 100th career hit for Reeds Spring.
The JV Lady Tigers also won, 8-2.
All-State Honors for Johnson, Davis and Appleberry
November 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Hailey Johnson, Amanda Davis and Payton Appleberry have won All-State honors in softball. [Read more...]
Final Four Wrap-up: Interview with Mike Thorne
October 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The Lady Tigers softball team finished fourth in the state. Hear what coach Mike Thorne had to say after a rough weekend in St. Joseph, and about his two graduating seniors, Hailey Johnson and Amanda Davis.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Lady Tigers Fall to Platte County, Finish 4th
October 24, 2009 by 2 Comments
For the second day in a row, the Republic Lady Tigers struggled offensively, as they lost to Platte County 2-0 in the state third-place game. [Read more...]
Kirksville Squeaks by Republic 1-0 in 10 Innings
October 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Kirksville pitcher Jackie Bishop struck out 21 batters to lead Kirksville to a 1-0 win over Republic in 10 innings in the state semifinals. The winning run scored when the umpire ruled that Danielle Llewellen slid across the plate just ahead of a throw from second baseman Lakin Ramsey with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.
Before that, both offenses had been shut out. Bishop struck out the side in each of the first six innings, and allowed only five baserunners in the game. Republic managed only two hits — both by Payton Appleberry — but never managed to get a runner past first base against Bishop, who still hasn’t given up an earned run all season.
Bishop’s performance overshadowed a great start by Republic’s Hailey Johnson, who held a powerful Kirksville lineup in check for 9 1/3 innings before giving up a run. Kirksville threatened several times, but Johnson pitched out of trouble when she had to. She left Kirksville runners stranded on third base in the second, the fourth, the fifth, and the seventh innings.
Republic will play Platte County in the third place game Saturday afternoon. Kirksville advances to play Cape Girardeau Notre Dame.
Softball Game Times Have Changed
October 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The schedule for the softball Final Four has changed. Republic now plays at 1:30 Friday in the semifinals. That’s an hour later than previously scheduled.
Here’s the NEW Class 3 schedule for the weekend:
CLASS 3
Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) vs. Platte County- Field #3 at 11:30 a.m. (Friday)
Kirksville vs. Republic- Field #3 at 1:30 p.m. (Friday)
Third-place game- Field #3 at 12 Noon (Saturday)
Championship game- Field #4 at 1 p.m. (Saturday)
That means the live webcast won’t begin until around 1:15 Friday.
