The Houston baseball team is looking forward to a potential rematch with Mansfield.
The Tigers, who made costly early mistakes in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to Mansfield, could see the Lions again at next week’s Class 2 District 12 tournament.
But first, third-seeded Houston has to get past rival Cabool. The Tigers won a wild 16-14 shootout in eight innings last week against the Bulldogs.
“I like our matchups. I’d like to see what happens if we play a little more consistent,” Tigers coach Brent Hall said.
“It’s been the same way all year – up and down. The only thing that worries me is we haven’t proven we can play three consistent, solid games in a row.”
Houston (8-9) will need a better start if it sees Mansfield again. The Tigers gave up four unearned runs as the Lions scored seven times in the first two innings to take a commanding lead.
Houston managed little offensively against Mansfield starter Chandler Veit, who was effectively wild. Veit plunked seven batters, including two with the bases loaded in the fifth, but he only surrendered one hit.
David Weybright, the first batter Veit faced, singled leading off the bottom of the first. Senior Kirk Pierce also singled in the seventh to account for the Tigers’ two hits.
Houston’s Chris Mooney gave up eight hits and five earned runs in the complete-game loss. He struck out five and walked two.
Trailing 8-0, the Tigers loaded the bases in the fourth when Brad Pounds was beaned, Weybright walked and Caleb Smith was plunked. Pierce and Tom Oakley were hit by pitches with the bases loaded to force home two runs.
David Foster was beaned leading off the sixth and scored on an error.
“I was proud of the way the team stuck with it and fought,” Hall said. “When you get down like that, it’s very easy to lay down and get thumped.”
On Wednesday, Smith’s two-run double in the top of the eighth completed the Tigers’ comeback victory against Cabool. Houston, which trailed 14-4 through four innings, scored seven times in the seventh inning to stay alive.
Friday against Plato, Pierce and Weybright had three hits apiece in a 12-6 victory. Pierce drove in three runs.
Houston travels to Winona today (Thursday) for its regular-season finale before beginning district play Monday against Cabool. The Tigers are the defending district champs.
“If we can put three consistent games together, it’s not out of the question for us to do it again,” Hall said.
Tuesday’s Game
MANSFIELD 9, HOUSTON 3
mhs ab r h bi hhs (8-9) ab r h bi
Jones ss 4 1 1 0 Wybrght cf 2 1 1 0
Jarrett cf 3 3 2 1 CSmith ss 3 0 0 0
Taylor lf 2 3 1 1 Pierce 3b 3 0 1 1
Clayton 3b 4 1 2 2 Oakley 1b 3 0 0 1
Cunghm c 4 1 2 1 Cstlmn dh 3 0 0 0
Veit p 4 0 0 0 Carter ph 0 0 0 0
Berry 1b 4 0 0 0 Mooney p 4 0 0 0
Fulp 2b 4 0 0 0 Foster rf 3 1 0 0
Box rf 3 0 0 0 Chrnsky c 3 0 0 0
Pounds 2b 1 1 0 0
Totals 32 9 8 5 Totals 25 3 2 2
2B: Clayton. 3B: Jarrett, Taylor, Clayton. SB: Jarrett 2, Jones, Taylor.
Mansfield 430 101 0 – 9 8 2
Houston 000 021 0 – 3 2 3
mansfield ip h r er bb so
Veit, W 5 2/3 1 3 2 1 8
Jones 1 1/3 1 0 0 1 1
houston ip h r er bb so
Mooney, L 7 8 9 5 2 5
HBP: Clayton, Pounds 2, Weybright, CSmith, Pierce, Oakley, Foster.
Friday’s Game
HOUSTON 12, PLATO 6
phs ab r h bi hhs (8-8) ab r h bi
Young ss 2 0 0 0 Wybrght cf 5 1 3 1
Bttgr 2b 3 2 2 2 CSmith ss 3 2 2 0
Beck p 3 0 0 0 Pierce p 5 2 3 3
Anthny cf 4 1 2 1 Oakley 1b 4 1 1 2
Spitler lf 3 0 0 0 Cstlmn dh 2 1 0 0
Buie 1b 2 1 0 0 Mooney 2b 4 1 0 0
Cantrell dh 4 0 1 1 Scheets rf 4 1 0 0
McNiel c 3 0 0 0 Pounds 3b 2 2 0 1
Hall rf 1 2 0 0 Foster lf 3 1 1 1
Kamrer rf 1 0 0 0
Totals 26 6 5 4 Totals 32 12 10 8
2B: Weybright. 3B: Pierce. SB: Anthony, Pierce 3, CSmith, Oakley.
Plato 001 212 0 – 6 5 4
Houston 803 010 0 – 12 10 1
plato ip h r er bb so
Cantrell, L 1/3 4 7 2 1 0
Beck 2 3 3 1 1 2
Young 4 2/3 3 2 1 5 4
houston ip h r er bb so
Pierce, W 5 5 4 4 6 5
Castleman 2 0 2 2 3 3
HBP: Hall, CSmith, Pounds.
Wednesday’s Game
HOUSTON 16, CABOOL 14
hhs (7-8) ab r h bi chs ab r h bi
Wybrght p 4 3 1 0 Stnbrgh cf 3 3 1 0
CSmith ss 6 3 4 4 Cprmn 1b 2 2 0 2
Pierce c 5 2 1 1 Holmes p 4 0 1 1
Oakley 1b 3 3 1 2 Johnson lf 5 1 2 3
Mooney lf 4 0 1 4 Collins rf 6 1 1 1
Scheets rf 3 1 2 3 Ellinwood c 3 1 0 0
Foster cf 3 0 0 0 Hayes 3b 5 2 1 0
Knetzer 2 0 0 0 Nrfalise 2b 5 2 3 1
Pounds 3b 4 2 1 1 Carmen ss 3 2 2 2
Pointer 2b 2 0 0 0
Carter 2 2 1 1
Totals 38 16 12 16 Totals 36 14 11 10
2B: CSmith 2, Pierce, Mooney, Johnson 2. SB: Weybright 2, Oakley 2, Scheets.
Houston 202 021 72 – 16 12 5
Cabool 206 600 00 – 14 12 3
houston ip h r er bb so
Weybright 2 2/3 7 8 2 7 2
Foster 5 1/3 4 6 1 7 4
cabool ip h r er bb so
Holmes 8 12 14 7 5 13
Stoutenborough, L 0 0 2 2 1 0
HBP: Weybright 2, Oakley, Pounds, Stoutenborough, Cooperman
April 29
THAYER 20, HOUSTON 19
hhs (6-8) ab r h bi ths ab r h bi
Wybrght p 5 2 2 2 Martin ss 4 2 3 3
CSmith ss 3 4 3 2 Crase cf 5 3 2 3
Pierce c 5 5 2 2 Eckman c 5 2 3 5
Oakley 1b 4 2 2 2 Smith p 5 2 3 2
Cstlmn 3b 2 0 0 0 Ary 3b 4 1 2 2
Mooney lf 5 1 1 2 Hargus lf 5 1 0 0
Carter rf 1 0 0 0 Brown 1b 5 4 3 0
Pounds rf 2 1 0 0 Ary rf 2 2 0 0
Scheets rf 1 1 1 0 Risner 2b 5 3 3 4
Foster cf 5 1 1 2
ESmith 2b 4 2 2 0
Totals 37 19 14 12 Totals 40 20 19 19
2B: Oakley 2, Pierce, Risner 2, Martin. 3B: Weybright, Eckman, Risner. HR: Eckman, Ary. SB: Oakley, Martin 2.
Houston 203 440 6 – 19 14 6
Thayer 250 442 3 – 20 19 6
houston ip h r er bb so
Weybright 1 3 5 3 2 1
Castleman 4 9 10 4 1 5
Mooney, L 1 1/3 7 5 4 1 1
thayer ip h r er bb so
Smith 7 14 19 8 7 10
HBP: CSmith 2, Ary