Powered by a pair of 3-run home runs by sophomore second baseman Katy Evans, the Houston High School softball team beat host Mountain Grove 16-6 last Saturday in the third-place game at the inaugural in-season South Central Association Conference Tournament.
Prior to the plaque-clinching victory, the Lady Tigers routed Cabool 18-1 in a 3-inning, run-rule shortened first round game and then fell 5-3 to Thayer in the semifinals.
Ava defeated Thayer 10-0 in the championship game of the first-ever version of the competition that included all eight SCA teams.
Before the good tournament showing, Houston won twice in home games last week at Carter Field, downing Steelville 3-0 in Tuesday’s season-opener and hammering Gainesville on Friday, 12-2.
“We’ll take it,” said HHS head coach Jim Moore. “It’s still early in the year, but I think we might be a little further ahead than what I anticipated at this point, and I like the direction we’re headed.”
Evans’ first round-tripper in the 3 ½-inning, run-rule shortened win over Mountain Grove came on a shot to left field in the bottom of the first inning that tied the score at 3-3. Her next bomb – also to left field – came with 2 outs in the bottom of the third and put the Lady Tigers ahead 15-6.
Evans went 3-for-3 at the plate in the contest, also crushing an RBI triple to right during an 8-run rally in the second frame.
Junior shortstop Sophia Crites also went 3-for-3 for Houston, with 2 triples, 2 RBIs and a run scored. The Lady Tigers amassed 14 hits in the game, with senior Kelsey Pritchett, junior Makinley Aaron and sophomore Lilly Kincaid smacking 2 apiece.
Pritchett was in the pitcher’s circle for Houston and went the distance, allowing only 4 hits.
EARLY LEAD GOES AWAY
The Lady Tigers took a 2-0 lead on a 2-run double by Pritchett in the bottom of the first inning of the contest with Thayer.
But neither team scored again until the Lady Bobcats got 5 runs in the top of the fourth frame and held on for the win.
Aaron pitched for Houston and allowed only 3 hits and 2 earned runs, but walked 7 while striking out 5.
In the win over Cabool, the Lady Tigers scored 9 times in both the first and second frames and didn’t have to bat again.
Junior Lacey Cavaness and sophomore Gracyn McNiell both recorded inside-the-park home runs in the contest, with Cavaness touching every base while leading off the first inning and McNiell rounding out the scoring in the second frame with a 3-run job. McNiell went 3-for-3 in the game and scored 3 runs, while Pritchett (playing first base) went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs.
The Lady Tigers totaled 11 hits in the contest, with 7 different players getting at least 1.
Kincaid pitched and allowed 3 hits while fanning 4 and walking 1.
The Lady Tigers committed 3 errors in Thayer’s 5-run inning, but rallied back and had the tying run at second base when the final out was recorded.
“We played pretty good Saturday,” Moore said. “In the game we lost, we kind of showed our youth a little bit, but we still had opportunities to win. But we gave them 6 outs in that one inning instead of 3, and that put us behind.”
BIG PLAYS IN THE FIELD
In the win over Steelville, neither team scored until the bottom of the fourth inning when Houston got what turned out to be the winning run.
Kincaid led off the frame with a double to left-center field, advanced all the way to third base on a fielder’s choice and then came home on an error.
The Lady Tigers added 2 more runs in the sixth inning with a rally started by another lead-off double by Kincaid, this time down the left field line. With 1 out, Pritchett banged a hard grounder to left for a double to put runners at second and third, and Evans followed with a 2-run single to put Houston ahead 3-0.
Pritchett was in the pitcher’s circle for the Lady Tigers and went the distance, allowing 8 hits while striking out 12 and walking 2.
She had plenty of help in the field.
With 2 outs in the top of the fourth inning and runners at second and third, Steelville senior Marli Perkins banged a long fly to center field that would have cleared the fence for a 3-run homer, but Cavaness caught it before it did.
Then in the top of the sixth and the score still at 1-0, the visiting Lady Cardinals were denied again on a huge play by Aaron at first base. With Perkins on second after hitting a double, Aaron leaped to snag a high throw after a grounder and tagged the runner as she came down. Perkins advanced, but the threat was over after the next batter grounded out.
Perkins also worked a complete game and allowed only 4 hits while fanning 13 and not issuing a walk.
BIG INNING LEADS TO WIN
After neither team scored in the first inning of the game against Gainesville, the Lady Tigers got 4 runs without the benefit of a hit in the second frame, taking advantage of 3 walks, 2 hit batters, a passed ball and an RBI grounder by Kincaid.
The visiting Lady Bulldogs got a run in the top of the third inning, but Houston erupted for 7 runs in the bottom of the fourth with a rally featuring 5 singles (including 4 with no outs), 2 walks, a hit batter and an error.
The Lady Tigers had 6 hits in the game (all singles). Sophomore right fielder Annabelle Westbrook went 2-for-2 at the plate, driving in 3 runs and scoring 2. Aaron did the pitching for Houston, scattering 7 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2.
On Houston’s schedule this week are a home game Thursday against Salem (the first South Central Association conference contest of the season), and a road game Friday at Summersville. Houston will travel to Mountain Grove for an SCA matchup next Monday (April 1) and host Mansfield on Tuesday (April 2).
Moore said the players are coming together as a unit.
“From my standpoint, their attitudes are good and their work ethic is good, and they’re starting to feel good about where they’re at,” he said. “We have some girls who have been waiting for their opportunity, playing behind a lot of talented girls who graduated last year, and now they’re getting that opportunity and they’re making the most of it.
“They know we’re a work in progress, but the girls are gelling as a team and they’re pretty excited about the prospects of the season. And they should be.”
