AVA – Houston’s postseason ended in fittingly frustrating fashion.
Like the regular season, the Tigers stayed close with a quality opponent in the opening round of the Class 3 District 10 tournament. And like many times before, HHS was a few plays short of victory.
Strafford’s Blake Lutgen singled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a tied game, and the Indians advanced with a 3-2 victory Saturday against Houston.
The season finale was the seventh time the Tigers lost by two or less runs. They were 1-7 in those games.
“Very indicative of a lot of our games this year,” Tigers coach Brent Hall said. “The way we ended it was kind of like the way the whole season went.”
Defending state champion Springfield Catholic emerged from a district featuring four state-ranked teams to advance to sectionals. The Indians beat 10th-ranked Strafford 9-2 on Monday, then topped eighth-ranked Ava 13-3 in Tuesday’s championship game.
Houston finished its season with a 10-10 record.
“We were better than that record,” Hall said. “It was awful frustrating that we couldn’t figure out how to win close games.
“I don’t blame the kids. I’m the head coach, and I take full responsibility for that.”
Tanner Cantrell doubled twice and Trevor Merckling had two hits for the Tigers, who out-hit Strafford 7-4. Whitley Welch had a sacrifice fly.
HHS left five men on base, including runners on second and third with one out in the top of the first.
“One of the biggest moments of the game was that first inning,” Hall said. “We battled and fought hard. We just couldn’t get a key hit.”
After Strafford went ahead 1-0 in the second, the Tigers tied it on Welch’s sacrifice fly to score Kolby Walker in the third.
Houston went ahead 2-1 in the next inning when Quinton Alston scored on a double play groundout.
Strafford tied it by scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning. The game remained tied until Lutgen singled to right field with two outs in the sixth to push across the winning run.
Aaron Cantrell took the complete-game loss in his final game with the Tigers. The right-hander struck out five and walked eight. All three runs were earned.
After the game, Hall shared an emotional farewell with five seniors. Four of them –– Alston and Merckling were three-year starters and Aaron Cantrell and Coulter started four seasons –– had long stints with the program.
“They are one of the most dependable groups I’ve ever had,” Hall said. “They are just super kids. I felt very fortunate to be part of their lives.”
BOX SCORE
Saturday’s game
STRAFFORD 3, HOUSTON 2
| 123 | 456 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| HHS | 001 | 100 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| SHS | 010 | 101 | x | 3 | 4 | 0 |
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Devin Coulter ss 4-0-0-0. Kolby Walker 1b 3-1-1-0. Tanner Cantrell 3b 3-0-2-0. Whitley Welch c 2-0-1-1. Aaron Cantrell p 2-0-0-0. Quinton Alston lf 3-1-1-0. Trevor Merckling 2b 3-0-2-0. Nathan Poynter rf 3-0-0-0. Ethan Kelley cf 2-0-0-0. Totals 25-2-7-1.
STRAFFORD (ab-r-h-bi) – Jake Berry 2b 3-0-0-1. Kyle Foley p 3-0-1-0. Blake Lutgen ss 4-0-2-1. Jacob Wade 1b 2-0-0-0. Chanler Collins c 2-0-0-0. Luke Oliver 3b 1-1-0-0. Josh Eubanks rf 1-0-0-0. Wyatt Eubanks cf 1-1-0-0. Kyle Tate lf 2-1-1-0. Totals 19-3-4-2.
2B: TCantrell 2. SF: WWelch. SB: Merckling, Alston, Foley, Tate. CS: Lutgen.
| Houston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| ACantrell, L | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Strafford | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Foley, W | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |