MOUNTAIN GROVE – Olivia Woosley covered her mouth and cried. And cried. And cried some more.
“I could not stop the tears,” she said, “but they are the happiest tears I’ve ever had.”
The moment Woosley and her teammates had only dreamed about was finally a reality. The Houston Lady Tigers were district champions.
The HHS softball team made history Monday with an aggressive attack that left top-seeded Willow Springs flustered and the Lady Tigers celebrating. Houston scored six times in the top of the first inning and never looked back en route to a 17-6 five-inning victory at Mountain Grove High School.
After left fielder Emily Harrison squeezed the final out to clinch the Class 2 District 3 title, the players raced toward the dugout and began celebrating. They embraced. They cheered. And they cried.
After four years of competing in fall softball, the Lady Tigers had their first district championship.
“I don’t even know what to say,” senior Kayla Kelley said. “It means so much to us to be the first ones to do it.”
The Lady Tigers (11-6) will travel to Hartville (18-5) on Wednesday for their first-ever sectional appearance. The game begins at 5 p.m.
The softball team’s championship snaps a district title drought at Houston High School dating back to the 2007 baseball team. First-year softball coach Brent Hall, who has led the baseball program for 15 years, helped bring both to his alma mater.
“I want them to enjoy the moment,” Hall said. “This doesn’t happen very often.”
HHS breezed past the defending district champions and same team that had beaten the Lady Tigers 6-0 less than two weeks earlier. Willow Springs (12-7) had also knocked Houston out of the last two district tournaments.
The Lady Tigers pushed across six runs in the first inning and led 10-6 before scoring seven times in the top of the fifth to evoke the mercy rule.
“Deep down inside, we all wanted this more than anything,” junior Taylor Franklin said.
Franklin, a reigning all-state selection, went 3-for-4 with two triples and six RBIs. Woosley had two hits and scored three times. She and Dani Sears knocked in two runs apiece.
Kelley, who earned the complete-game victory, credited Judge Doug Gaston with motivating the team. He visited with the players following an assembly Monday afternoon and discussed the pride and memories he had from his HHS basketball team winning districts his sophomore year.
“He told us we needed to play with all our hearts and that we could win this if we put our minds to us,” Kelley said. “We took what he said to heart.”
Franklin tripled home Woosley with one out in the first to start the scoring. Lizzy Swindell had a fielder’s choice RBI to make it 2-0 and was one of three players to score on wild pitches. Hailey Dodson’s RBI groundout scored Sears with the final of six first-inning runs.
Franklin had a two-run single in the second, and Swindell doubled home Kelley to put HHS ahead 9-2.
After Willow Springs trimmed the deficit to three runs, Woosley had a bunt RBI single in the third. Houston then broke the game open in the fifth.
Following another RBI bunt single by Woosley, Franklin tripled deep to center field to plate three runs. Franklin eventually scored on a throwing error and Kelley stole home as catcher Kyndall Bunch tossed the ball back to the pitcher. Sears added a RBI infield single to cap the seven-run inning.
Franklin, who struck out with two runners in scoring position in her previous at-bat, redeemed herself with the bases-clearing triple. She attributed it to a small accessory change.
“I did not wear that red wristband again,” Franklin said of the armwear with the team’s plays on it.
The Lady Tigers twice knocked Willow Springs starter Emily Durnell out of the game. She was removed after walking two runners to begin the second inning and after re-entering in the third, was lifted again with one out in the fifth.
Hall said he noticed in the first meeting of the season Durnell got flustered despite a late lead. He wanted to take advantage of her emotions by working the count with the bottom of the lineup and aggressively running the bases.
It worked.
Durnell walked seven batters and hit another. She gave up 10 runs despite allowing just three hits.
“We executed the game plan just the way we needed to,” Hall said.
Kelley walked one and struck out two in the complete-game victory. Two of the Lady Bears’ six runs were unearned.
Hall praised his team’s performance in the biggest game of the season. Houston’s 17 runs were the second-most the team has scored since the program began competing in the fall.
“Our mental toughness today was what I was looking for all year long,” he said. “What better time to get it than a district title game?”
BOX SCORE
| Houston | 631 | 07 | – | 17 | 10 | 2 |
| Willow Springs | 240 | 00 | – | 6 | 10 | 4 |
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Walker 2b 3-1-1-0. Woosley c 2-3-2-2. Franklin ss 4-2-3-6. Kelley p 3-3-1-0. Swindell 1b 3-1-1-1. Preheim 3b 3-2-0-0. Sears rf 2-2-1-2. Dodson cf 4-1-1-1. Harrison lf 1-2-0-0. Totals 25-17-10-12.
WILLOW SPRINGS (ab-r-h-bi) – Durnell p 4-1-2-1. Rhodes 1b 3-1-0-0. KynBunch c 3-2-2-1. Hines cf 3-0-2-2. Alcorn 2b 2-0-0-1. KyrBunch ss 2-0-1-1. Sherbo lf 3-0-0-0. Wood dp 3-1-2-0. Foval 3b 3-1-1-1. Totals 26-6-10-7.
2B: Swindell. 3B: Franklin 2, Kelley. SB: Kelley. KyrBunch. CS: Franklin.
Watch the Lady Tigers’ district title victory.
Wednesday’s sectionals
Kelly (20-4) vs. Twin Rivers (12-10)
Houston (11-6) vs. Hartville (18-5)
Fatima (20-4) vs. Lafayette (17-3)
Brookfield (24-5) vs. Bishop LeBlond (24-4)
Pierce City (18-6) vs. Lamar (18-4)
Pleasant Hope (24-2) vs. District 8 champion
South Callaway (18-8) vs. Jefferson (12-9)
Elsberry (14-7) vs. Palmyra (23-4)