One of the most successful seasons in the history of the Houston softball program is over.

The Lady Tigers’ 2019 campaign – highlighted by a conference championship and 15 wins – ended last Wednesday with a 5-2 loss to Koshkonong in the Class 1 District 7 semifinals on Carter Field in Houston.

The loss brought to an end the first competitive spring season in school history. It was also an incredibly successful one.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Jim Moore, the Lady Tigers went 4-0 in the South Central Association to win the program’s first conference title and won the most games in team history – topping the 13 won in 2013.

“I am really proud of this team and what we were able to accomplish,” Moore said. “We came up a little short of our goal of a district title, but we have laid the foundation for our program to continue to grow to new heights in the near future.”

Top-seeded Plato beat Koshkonong 7-0 later last Wednesday night to win the district title. The Lady Eagles lost 5-1 Monday to Pleasant Hope in the sectional round.

Houston’s semifinal with Koshkonong lasted two days due to inclement weather.

With one out in the fifth inning last Tuesday – after moments of light rain – the game was stopped at 6:48 p.m. for a 30-minute lightning delay. It was eventually postponed and concluded at 3 p.m. the following day.

The Lady Tigers (15-8) played from behind from the get-go against a Koshkonong team it lost to twice during the regular season.

Behind 1-0, Houston pulled even in the second inning when freshman MacKenzie Rust doubled to right field and scored on Emily Roberts’ groundout.

Koshkonong (13-4) took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run to make it 3-1.

HHS got another tally in the third as Jaden Stell, who reached after being hit by a pitch, was awarded a run following an obstruction call at third base.

Koshkonong extended its advantage with two-out runs in both the third and fourth innings. A wild pitch allowed one run to score and a two-out single made it 5-2 before the delay.

The game was the final one for the team’s two seniors: Roberts and Madison Curtis.

“We will miss our two seniors and everything they did for the program,” Moore said. “We bring back a lot of talent that is just scraping the surface of how good they can be and will add several talented underclassmen.”

BOX SCORE

HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Kameron Hall rf 3-0-0-0. Jaden Stell c 1-1-0-0. Shelby Ozier cf 2-0-1-0. Madison Curtis 3b 3-0-0-0. MacKenzie Holder dh 3-1-1-0. Hannah Dzurick ss 3-0-0-0. Emily Roberts p 3-0-0-1. Riley Scheets 1b 2-0-0-0. Ashley Loman lf 3-0-0-0. Totals 23-2-2-1.

2B: Holder. SB: Stell 2, Ozier.