The Houston 11-12 softball team began its season with a pair of blowout victories.
The Lady Tigers opened their season May 17 with a 15-0 shutout of Mountain View. On Monday, Houston downed Cabool 2, 20-3.
Kayla Kelley, Amber Cornelison and Haley Kelley had two hits apiece to lead the Lady Tigers, who had 15 hits, against Mountain View. Kelley knocked in four runs and had an inside-the-park home run. She was also the winning pitcher.
“We really had a good game for our first outing of the season,” coach Craig Pounds said. “We are blessed to have eight players returning from last year’s team. The whole team has been working hard and it showed in this one.”
Against Cabool, Kayla Kelley struck out 10 batters as Houston cruised to a road victory.
Amber Sillyman led the offense, which had 17 hits, by going 3-for-3 with four runs and four RBIs.
Alexa Ichord was also 3-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run, three runs and three RBIs. Ashtin Bathon had a pair of hits and scored twice.
Taylor Franklin, who pitched the fifth, had two strikeouts and didn’t allow a baserunner.
“We got off to a slow start, but we did get better as the night went along,” Pounds said. “Our hitting is getting better as the confidence increases, and our pitching has been very good. The girls are really playing good ball for this early in the season.”
The Lady Tigers host Willow Springs I at 6 o’clock tonight (Thursday).
