Most runs in a game. Largest margin of victory. Best start in program history.
Records are falling fast for the Houston High School softball team.
The Lady Tigers continued their unprecedented start to the 2012 season Tuesday afternoon with a record-setting performance. They set new marks for runs scored and winning margin with a 19-2 thumping of Mountain View-Liberty on Carter Field.
Houston’s 4-1 start is the best in the program’s brief history.
“Considering everything that has happened, I’m pretty pleased with our start,” first-year HHS coach Brent Hall said. “But the schedule is going to get a lot tougher. The better teams we play are coming up. We’ll get a better gauge of our team in the coming weeks.”
The Lady Tigers needed just one inning to set a record for runs. They scored 18 times in the first inning to eclipse the previous high of 17 runs in a single game. Houston set that total Oct. 5, 2011, in the opening round of districts.
Houston’s 17-run winning margin topped the previous high of a pair of 11-run victories last season.
The Lady Tigers sent 23 batters to the plate in the first inning. Senior Kayla Kelley had three doubles in the first inning alone. Taylor Franklin scored three times –– all in the first –– and all but one HHS player scored multiple times.
“In previous years, we’ve played down to the level of teams we are better than,” Hall said. “It was good we put away a team we knew we were better than.”
On Monday, sophomore Olivia Woosley had a pair of hits and two stolen bases in a 7-2 home victory against Mansfield.
HHS opened the season with a third-place finish in the Houston Invitational. The Lady Tigers beat Mansfield 9-3 before losing 8-6 to Salem in the semifinals. Franklin and Lizzy Swindell homered in the third-place game as part of a 10-2 win against Winona.
Naylor won the tournament.
19 – Runs in a single game (previous high was 17 on Oct. 5, 2011, against Seymour in the first round of districts).
17 – Winning margin (previous high was 11 runs set twice in 2011).
4-1 – Best start to a season.