The Houston softball team finally completed a comeback. And the victory gave the Lady Tigers the chance to play for a tournament championship.
HHS scored five times in the final inning Saturday to knock off top-seeded El Dorado Springs in the semifinals of the Walnut Grove Tournament. The come-from-behind win propelled the fourth-seeded Lady Tigers in the title game, where they couldn’t hang onto an early lead and lost to Pilot Grove.
Still, there were plenty of positives from a successful weekend in the annually tough tournament.
“It doesn’t matter what sport we’ve been in –– boys or girls –– we come back and don’t finish it,” HHS coach Brent Hall said. “We actually finished it this time.”
After opening the weekend with a 7-1 victory Friday night against Parkview, the Lady Tigers fell behind 8-3 Saturday afternoon against El Dorado Springs. But HHS rallied by scoring the game’s final six runs for a 9-8 victory.
Senior Olivia Woosley, who had a two-run double during the five-run sixth inning, was 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Stephani Crewse had two hits, scored twice and stole four bases.
In the championship game, Houston raced ahead 5-1 through the top of the second inning. But Pilot Grove scored 11 unanswered runs and beat the Lady Tigers 12-5 for the tournament title.
“Being in the championship and playing for something meaningful will make us better in the long run,” Hall said.
Lizzy Swindell and Crewse had two hits apiece in the title game. Both were named to the all-tournament team along with senior pitcher Kylee Elmore.
Hall praised Elmore, who is playing high school softball for the first time, for her consistent pitching. She walked three or less batters in all three tournament games.
“Our pitching was the best it has been all year,” Hall said.
On Monday, Houston avenged an early-season loss by beating Seymour 14-4 in six innings. Swindell, Abbey Slocum and Shelby Cremer had two hits apiece.
Last Thursday, Swindell, Crewse and freshman Taylor Chipps drove in three runs apiece in a 17-6 six-inning victory at Laquey. Woosley scored four times.
BOX SCORES
Monday’s game
| 123 | 45 | R | H | E | |
| Houston | 0(10)1 | 30 | 14 | 9 | 2 |
| Seymour | 310 | 00 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
HHS (ab-r-h-bi) – Autumn Walker 2b 1-1-0-0. Olivia Woosley ss 2-1-0-0. Lizzy Swindell 1b 4-1-2-1. Tommi Franklin 3b 4-1-1-2. Abbey Slocum rf 4-1-2-0. Tori McCloud cf 3-3-0-0. Stephani Crewse c 4-2-1-2. Shelby Cremer lf 2-2-2-2. Taylor Chipps dp 2-2-1-1. Totals 26-14-9-8.
2B: Franklin, Cremer. SB: Cremer 2, Woosley, McCloud, Chipps.
Winning pitcher: Elmore.
Saturday’s games
Walnut Grove Tournament
Championship
| 123 | 456 | R | H | E | |
| Houston | 140 | 000 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Pilot Grove | 142 | 014 | 12 | 12 | 1 |
HHS (ab-r-h-bi) – Autumn Walker 2b 4-1-2-0. Olivia Woosley ss 4-1-0-0. Lizzy Swindell 1b 3-1-2-1. Tommi Franklin 3b 2-0-1-1. Abbey Slocum rf 2-0-0-0. Tori McCloud cf 2-0-0-0. Stephani Crewse c 3-0-2-0. Kaitlyn Root lf 3-1-0-0. Taylor Chipps dp 2-1-0-0. Totals 25-5-7-2.
2B: Franklin. 3B: Walker. SB: Crewse, Chipps.
Losing pitcher: Elmore.
Walnut Grove Tournament
Semifinals
| 123 | 456 | R | H | E | |
| Houston | 110 | 115 | 9 | 8 | 3 |
| El Dorado Springs | 012 | 500 | 8 | 7 | 3 |
HHS (ab-r-h-bi) – Autumn Walker 2b 4-0-0-0. Olivia Woosley ss 3-3-2-2. Lizzy Swindell 1b 2-1-2-1. Tommi Franklin 3b 4-1-1-0. Abbey Slocum 4-0-0-0. Tori McCloud cf 3-1-0-0. Stephani Crewse c 3-2-2-1. Katilyn Root lf 3-0-0-0. Taylor Chipps dp 3-1-1-0. Totals 29-9-8-4.
2B: Woosley, Crewse. SB: Crewse 4, Swindell, McCloud.
Winning pitcher: Elmore.
Friday’s game
Walnut Grove Tournament
First round
| 123 | 45 | R | H | E | |
| Parkview | 001 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Houston | 201 | 40 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
HHS (ab-r-h-bi) – Autumn Walker 2b 3-1-2-0. Olivia Woosley ss 3-2-1-2. Lizzy Swindell 1b 3-2-1-1. Tommi Franklin 3b 2-1-1-0. Abbey Slocum rf 3-0-1-2. Tori McCloud cf 3-0-1-1. Stephani Crewse c 3-0-1-0. Kaitlyn Root lf 3-0-0-0. Taylor Chipps dp 3-1-1-0. Totals 26-7-9-0.
2B: Franklin. SB: Woosley.
Winning pitcher: Elmore.
Last Thursday’s game
| 123 | 456 | R | H | E | |
| Houston | 622 | 133 | 17 | 13 | 2 |
| Laquey | 003 | 021 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
HHS (ab-r-h-bi) – Autumn Walker 2b 4-1-1-0. Olivia Woosley ss 4-4-2-0. Lizzy Swindell 1b 4-3-3-3. Tommi Franklin 3b 3-3-2-2. Abbey Slocum rf 5-2-1-1. Tori McCloud cf 2-2-1-1. Stephani Crewse c 2-1-2-3. Katilyn Root lf 1-0-0-1. Shelby Cremer lf 1-0-0-0. Taylor Chipps dp 4-1-1-3. Totals 30-17-13-14.
2B: Woosley. 3B: Swindell. SB: Franklin 2, Woosley, Slocum, McCloud, Crewse. SAC: McCloud, Cremer.
Winning pitcher: Elmore.