The sound of celebration came filtering from the locker room door as it swung open and closed.
The Houston Tigers are champions again.
Kyle Poynter, Chris Mooney and Brandon Belt had two hits apiece as the Tigers beat Liberty 7-3 Friday in the championship game of the SCA Tournament.
Houston (3-0) won the title for the first time since 2007. That team went on to finish second in the state.
The Tigers trailed 3-0 after two innings before scoring seven unanswered runs. Poynter sparked the comeback with a two-run triple to the deepest part of the park in right-center field.
Cooperman, who took the mound following consecutive 12-strikeout, shutout performances by Mooney and Poynter, overcame control problems to earn his first victory. The left-handed transfer from Cabool gave up just four hits and one earned run in 4 2/3 innings. He walked five and struck out four.
A pair of errors and a two-run single by No. 8 hitter Jeremiah Coon put the Eagles ahead 3-0 after two innings. Liberty was the home team.
Houston answered back in the top of the third. Brandon Belt, the No. 9 hitter, and Mooney reached on singles. Poynter followed with a blast to the 367-foot sign in right-center. He later scored on a wild pitch to tie it at 3-all.
Eli Smith’s dribbler in front of the plate brought home a run with the bases loaded. The next batter, Kaleb Poynter, walked to force home another run and make it 5-3.
Kodey Campbell walked and scored on an error in the sixth, and Belt’s infield single in the seventh completed Houston’s scoring.
Box score
| Houston | 003 | 021 | 1 | – | 7 | 8 | 3 | ||||||
| Liberty | 030 | 000 | 0 | – | 3 | 5 | 1 |
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