Lady Tigers cruise in district opener

Houston’s district title defense began with a convincing victory.

Freshman Tommi Franklin homered and had three hits to lead the Lady Tigers’ 11-1 five-inning victory Wednesday evening against Plato in the opening round of the Class 2 District 10 tournament.

The Lady Tigers (11-9) will face No. 2 Gainesville at 6:30 p.m. today in the semifinals on Carter Field. Fourth-seeded Mountain Grove, which beat Liberty 17-2 in four innings, will play top-seeded Willow Springs at 4:30 p.m. in the other semifinal.

Tommi Franklin was 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs in her first postseason appearance. Lizzy Swindell drove in three runs, and Autumn Walker was 2-for-3 with a two-run double.

Ahead 3-0, HHS broke the game open with a six-run third inning. Tommi Franklin started the rally with a two-run shot over the left-center field fence. Walker doubled home two runs with two outs and after Taylor Franklin walked, Swindell doubled to bring home two more runs.

Emily Harrison had a RBI groundout in the fourth, and Kaylea Preheim ended the game with a two-out run-scoring double in the fifth.

Harrison allowed just one hit – a second-inning single by Hunter Steinbach – in the complete-game victory. She struck out five and walked two. Plato’s lone run was unearned.

Hannah Breedlove gave up 11 hits and six earned runs for the Lady Eagles (4-17). She walked two and struck out two.

MOUNTAIN GROVE 17, LIBERTY 2: Mountain Grove freshman Bridget Sons homered and Paige Lutes had four RBIs as the Lady Panthers advanced with a four-inning victory against Liberty.

The Lady Panthers (8-11) busted the game open with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sons had a RBI single, and Lutes followed with a two-run double in the rally. Avery Lee also had a run-scoring single.

Austyn Shannon allowed three hits and two earned runs in the complete-game victory. She struck out one and walked two.

Jessica Mantel, Bethanie Daniels and Hanna Vines each singled for Liberty (5-18).

Box score

Plato  000  01  –  1  1  5

Houston  216  11  –  11  11  2

PLATO (ab-r-h-bi) – Breedlove p 3-0-0-0. Shrum ss 1-0-0-0. Fletcher 3b 2-0-0-0. Lear c 2-0-0-0. Steinbach 1b 2-0-1-0. Foster lf 2-1-0-0. Emery cf 1-0-0-0. Steinbrink rf 2-0-0-0. Owen 2b 2-0-0-0. Totals 17-1-1-0.

HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Walker 2b 3-2-2-2. TaFranklin ss 3-2-1-0. Swindell 1b 4-1-1-3. Preheim 3b 4-1-1-1. ToFranklin lf 3-2-3-2. Knarr c 3-0-1-0. Harrison p 3-0-1-1. Crewse cr 0-1-0-0. Dodson cf 3-1-0-0. Sears rf 3-1-1-0. Totals 29-11-10-9.

2B: Walker, Swindell, Preheim, Knarr. HR: ToFranklin. SB: ToFranklin 3, Crewse 2, Preheim, Dodson.

PLATO  IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO

Breedlove, L  4.2  11  11  6  2  2

HOUSTON  IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO

Harrison, W  5  1  1  0  2  5

Wednesday’s scores

Mtn. Grove 17, Liberty 2 (4 inn.)

Houston 11, Plato 1 (5 inn.)

Thursday’s games

(1) Willow Springs vs. (4) Mtn. Grove, 4:30 p.m.

(2) Gainesville vs. (3) Houston, 6:30 p.m.

Friday’s game

Championship, 5 p.m.

Watch live coverage and replays of every game here.