Both the positives and negatives were evident in the Houston softball team’s latest game.
Too many walks, fielding errors and an offensive slump led to an 8-1 deficit Monday against Seymour. But the Lady Tigers found their groove in the final innings –– highlighted by a 10-run sixth –– to rally to a 17-11 victory on Carter Field.
HHS, which went 1-2 over the weekend at the Walnut Grove Tournament, is 3-5 overall through the early part of the season.
“As a coach, you want your team to be the best that it can be,” Lady Tigers coach Brent Hall said. “We’re not the best we can be right now.”
Trailing 11-7 entering the sixth, Houston pulled even on senior Abbey Slocum’s two-run single. She later scored to give the Lady Tigers their first lead.
Pinch hitter Carly Crawford, Autumn Walker and Stephani Crewse added doubles in the inning to push the Lady Tigers comfortably ahead.
“That’s kind of the way we play –– someone gets a hit to get the momentum going,” Hall said. “I just wish we could have done it earlier.”
Walker was 3-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs. Shelby Cremer added three hits for the Lady Tigers, who had two RBIs apiece from Crewse, Slocum, Kaitlyn Root and Aryanna Morgan.
Freshman Emily Roberts was the complete-game winner. She gave up nine hits and eight earned runs. Roberts struck out four and walked 13.
“We’re very athletic,” Hall said. “If we can throw more strikes and put more constant pressure on the defense with our offense, we can be a good team. I don’t know record wise what that means.”
In Friday’s opening game of the Walnut Grove Tournament, Walker and Root had two hits apiece in a 10-8 victory against the host team.
The Lady Tigers lost 12-1 to top-seeded El Dorado Springs in Saturday morning’s semifinal and were no-hit in an 11-0 loss to Pilot Grove in the third-place game.
Last Thursday, Crewse homered and stole four bases in Houston’s 8-6 home loss to Laquey. Crewse, Walker and Taylor Chipps each had two hits.
BOX SCORES
Monday’s game
Seymour 204 230 0 –– 11 9 3
Houston 001 42(10) x –– 17 13 4
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) –– Autumn Walker 5-2-3-5. Taylor Chipps 4-2-0-0. Stephani Crewse 3-2-1-2. Tori McCloud 4-2-1-1. Abbey Slocum 3-2-2-2. Kaitlyn Root 2-3-1-2. Madison Lawson 4-1-0-0. Aryanna Morgan 3-0-1-2. Carly Crawford 1-1-1-1. Shelby Cremer 3-2-3-1. Totals 32-17-13-16
2B: Walker 2, Crewse, Crawford. SB: Cremer 2, Walker, Chipps, Crewse.
Winning pitcher: Emily Roberts.
Walnut Grove Tournament
Saturday’s games
Houston 000 –– 0 0 2
Pilot Grove 407 –– 11 5 2
Hits: none.
Losing pitcher: Emily Roberts.
Houston 000 1 –– 1 3 4
El Dorado 233 4 –– 12 6 0
Hits: Autmn Walker, Abbey Slocum, Madison Lawson.
Losing pitcher: Emily Roberts.
Friday’s game
Walnut Grove 200 6 –– 8 7 3
Houston 207 1 –– 10 5 0
Hits: Autumn Walker 2, Kaitlyn Root 2, Stephani Crewse.
Winning pitcher: Emily Roberts.
Last Thursday’s game
Laquey 201 030 2 –– 8 5 0
Houston 320 100 0 –– 6 11 0
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) –– Autumn Walker 5-0-2-1. Taylor Chipps 4-1-2-0. Stephani Crewse 4-3-2-1. Tori McCloud 3-0-1-0. Abbey Slocum 2-1-1-2. Kaitlyn Root 3-0-1-0. Carly Crawford 3-0-2-1. Madison Lawson 4-0-0-0. Shelby Cremer 3-1-0-0.
2B: Walker, Chipps. HR: Crewse. SB: Crewse 4, Chipps, Slocum, Lawson, Cremer. CS: Walker.
Losing pitcher: Emily Roberts.
Wednesday vs. Salem, 4 p.m.
Friday at Mansfield, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday at St. James Tournament
Tuesday vs. Hartville, 4:30 p.m.