Mackenzie Holder is enjoying her senior season with the Houston High School Softball team.
Thanks to a season-ending injury sustained by junior catcher Katie Jo Chipps early in the campaign, Holder has been behind the plate on a daily basis for the Lady Tigers and has been scorching opposing pitchers regularly.
She did it again in Houston’s 7-3 victory in a South Central Association conference game Tuesday at Cabool, going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in 3 runs to raise her team-leading RBI total to 29 (11 more than the second-highest total). One of Holder’s hits in the contest was a 2-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh inning, her team-leading third round-tripper of the season.
Houston got on the board first with an unearned run in the top of the third inning and went ahead 2-0 on an RBI single by Holder in the fourth.
Cabool cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by senior Morganne Aaron, but Houston added a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to lead 4-1.
The host Lady Bulldogs pulled to within a run again with 2 unearned runs in the sixth, but Holder’s homer and another run in the seventh frame lifted Houston to the win.
The Lady Tigers had 8 hits in the game, with seven different players getting at least 1.
Junior Aliyah Walker pitched a complete game for Houston, allowing 5 hits and only 1 earned run while striking out 6 and walking 1.
Junior Athena Waller went the distance in the pitcher’s circle for Cabool, giving up 3 earned runs while fanning 1 and walking 3.
The Lady Tigers (13-4, 6-1 SCA) continue a long string of road games this week with an SCA contest Wednesday at Mountain Grove and a nonconference matchup Friday at Licking. Next week, Houston plays Monday at Bourbon and Tuesday at Plato before beginning the Class 2 District 4 Tournament Friday, May 6, at Mansfield.