Cabool’s first batter of the game ripped a pitch headed over the outfield fence at Carter Field. It never made it.
Houston center fielder Shelby Ozier tracked it down and robbed what appeared to be a home run with a sensational catch.
“That ball was gone and she brings it back,” Lady Tigers coach Jim Moore said. “It set the tone for the night.”
Ozier made three more outstanding defensive plays to rob extra-base hits in the game as HHS topped Cabool 7-3 last Thursday.
“Shelby was huge today,” Moore said. “She had four plays that were really amazing.”
The defensive gems backed up senior Emily Roberts, who earned the complete-game win. She struck out eight and walked none.
Houston center fielder Shelby Ozier reaches to track down a fly ball in the outfield.
The Lady Tigers throttled Summersville 20-4 the following night as they continued their hot start to the season. They are 8-2 in the first season under Moore and inaugural season playing competitively in the spring. Houston is also 2-0 in the South Central Conference.
“The girls are having fun and competing,” Moore said. “We still believe we can be better, but we’re off to a good start.”
After falling behind 3-0 to Cabool in the second, the Lady Tigers scored four times in the bottom half of the inning and never trailed the rest of the way.
Jaida Lassiter had three of the team’s 13 hits. Ozier, Roberts, Hannah Dzurick and MacKenzie Holder had two hits apiece.
On Friday against Summersville, Kameron Hall and Madison Curtis knocked in three runs apiece in the Lady Tigers’ highest scoring game of the season. Hall and Dzurick combined for 10 of their 26 steals.
BOX SCORES
Friday’s game
| Houston | 11(14) | 22 | – | 20 | 13 | 0 |
| Summersville | 004 | 00 | – | 4 | 9 | 0 |
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Kameron Hall rf 3-3-2-3. Jaden Stell ss 3-2-2-2. Shelby Ozier cf 3-3-1-1. Madison Curbis 3b 4-3-3-3. Jaida Lassiter c 2-0-0-2. Hannah Dzurick 2b 4-2-2-1. MacKenzie Holder dh 3-3-2-0. Emily Roberts p 1-1-1-1. Riley Scheets 1b 1-1-0-0. Totals 24-20-13-13.
2B: Curtis, Dzurick, Holder. 3B: Stell. SB: Dzurick 6, Hall 5, Stell 4, Ozier 4, Curtis 3, Holder 2, Hock 2, Roberts. CS: Scheets.
| HOUSTON | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Roberts, W | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Hock | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Last Thursday’s game
| Cabool | 030 | 000 | 0 | – | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Houston | 042 | 100 | x | – | 7 | 13 | 0 |
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Kameron Hall rf 4-0-1-2. Jaden Stell 4-0-0-1. Shelby Ozier cf 4-1-2-0. Madison Curtis 3b 3-0-1-0. Hannah Duzurick 2b 3-2-2-0. Jaida Lassiter c 3-1-3-1. MacKenzie Holder dh 3-1-2-0. Emily Roberts p 2-1-2-1. Riley Scheets 1b 2-1-0-1. Totals 28-7-13-6.
2B: Hall. SB: Dzurick 2, Ozier, Lassiter, Roberts. CS: Hock.
| HOUSTON | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Roberts, W | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 |