Another game, another win, another shutout.
The Houston High School baseball team won again in a South Central Association conference game Monday at Willow Springs, blanking the host Bears 8-0.
Senior Garyn Hall was on the mound for the Tigers and went the distance, allowing 5 hits while striking out 12 and not issuing a walk. The accomplished hurler tossed 97 pitches in the contest, 70 for strikes, and raised his record to 5-1 on the season.
Houston totaled 9 hits in the game, with senior Ryan Wolfe and juniors Wyatt Hughes and Aiden Kelly all getting a pair of singles and going 2-for-3 at the plate. Hall had the Tigers’ only extra-base hit on the day, a double to left in the top of the third inning. He also stole 3 more bases to reach 35 for the season, 5 shy of his school record of 40 (with 6 games left in the regular season), and finished the game with a team-high batting average of .519.
After the victory, the Tigers had outscored the opposition 81-4 while winning 8 straight games, including 7 shutouts. So far this season, Houston’s pitching staff has a combined ERA of only 1.58.
This week, the Tigers (15-3, 5-1 SCA through Monday) travel to Summersville on Tuesday and host an interesting nonconference game Thursday against Licking, because the county rival Wildcats (13-5 and ranked sixth in the latest Class 3 poll) are in the same district as Houston again this season, along with Liberty, Mansfield and Thayer.
The Tigers host a nonconference matchup with Hartville on Monday. Their SCA game scheduled for last Thursday at Ava was rained out and is now set for May 10.