Five games into the 2018 season, Houston coach Brent Hall said he is encouraged by what he sees.

The Tigers have a pair of victories and played both Mountain Grove and Licking to close losses in last week’s State Farm Wood Bat Classic.

With a 2-3 record, HHS is already almost halfway to last year’s win total.

“We are further ahead than I expected,” Hall said. “Four out of the five teams we’ve played are good teams, and we’ve been competitive in every one of those games. Last year those games were lopsided ones.”

The Tigers have been especially strong on the mound.

Led by sophomore Sterling Jackson and freshman Alex Castleman, Houston’s staff has a combined 2.47 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.

Jackson threw a complete-game shutout in last Tuesday’s 2-0 win against Cuba to kick off the tournament. Castleman struck out seven and allowed one earned run in five innings against Mountain Grove –– a game the Tigers led until the final inning

“They may be a little inconsistent at times throughout the year, but we’ve seen what they are capable of doing,” Hall said.

In last Tuesday’s tournament opener, Jackson gave up four hits while striking out six and walking two for his first win of the season. He threw 59 of his 87 pitches for strikes.

HHS, which managed just two hits, scored the game’s lone runs in the top of the fifth inning. Senior Ty McCloud singled home Braedin Groff, who walked, for a 1-0 lead and Gavin Alston scored when he and McCloud executed a double steal.

Freshman Cody Allen had the other hit for the Tigers. Four players – Alston, McCloud, Groff and Alex Castleman – had one steal apiece.

Last Thursday, Mountain Grove scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally to a 5-4 win.

Senior Nick Swanson took the loss with four hits and two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Houston got hits from McCloud, Castleman, Swanson, Jackson and Conner Wilson.

On Friday, Castleman and Jacob Koch had two hits apiece in the Tigers’ 5-2 loss to Licking.

Swanson gave up six hits and four earned runs in five innings in the loss. He struck out five and walked four.

Houston out-hit Licking 9-7 and stranded 10 runners on base.

Although Hall said his team will need to make fewer mistakes, he believes things are moving the right direction.

“We’ve shown we can compete against some of the better teams in the area,” Hall said. “For now and the future, things are looking up again.”

BOX SCORES

Friday’s game

Houston 000 002 0 – 2 10 3

Licking 211 001 x – 5 7 2

HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi): Gavin Alston ss 4-0-0-0. Ty McCloud cf 4-0-1-0. Sterling Jackson 1b 3-0-1-0. Alex Castleman dh 4-0-2-0. Nick Swanson lf 4-1-1-0. Cody Allen 2b 2-1-1-0. Braedin Groff 3b 3-0-0-0. Jacob Koch ss 3-0-2-0.

2B: Jackson. SB: Castleman, Swanson, Allen.

houston ip h r er bb so

Swanson, L 5 6 4 4 4 5

McCloud 1 1 1 0 1 2

Last Thursday’s game

Houston 002 200 0 – 4 5 1

Grove 300 000 2 – 5 8 1

HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi): Gavin Alston ss 4-1-0-0. Ty McCloud cf 3-0-1-2. Sterling Jackson 1b 3-0-1-0. Alex Castleman p 3-1-1-0. Conner Wilson c 3-0-1-0. Nick Swanson lf 3-1-1-1. Cody Allen 2b 3-0-0-0. Braedin Groff 3b 2-1-0-0. Hunter Stilley rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 26-4-5-3.

3B: Swanson. SB: Alston, McCloud, Groff, Jacob Koch.

houston ip h r er bb so

Castleman 5 4 3 1 2 7

Swanson 1.1 4 2 2 0 0

Last Tuesday’s game

Houston 000 020 0 – 2 2 1

Cuba 000 000 0 – 0 4 1

HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi): Gavin Alston ss 2-1-0-0. Ty McCloud cf 3-0-1-1. Sterling Jackson p 2-0-0-0. Alex Castleman 3b 2-0-0-0. Conner Wilson c 3-0-0-0. Nick Swanson lf 3-0-0-0. Cody Allen 2b 3-0-1-0. Brecken Adey 1b 3-0-0-0. Braedin Groff dh 3-1-0-0. Totals 24-2-2-1.

SB: Alston, McCloud, Castleman, Groff.

houston ip h r er bb so

Jackson 7 4 0 0 2 6