A late game offensive explosion lifted the Houston High School baseball team over Plato on Thursday at Tiger Field. The 10th win of the season came on senior night.
Senior Caiden Root started on the mound for the Tigers, and poor defense helped the visiting Eagles jump out to an early lead. The first batter of the game reached on a dropped catch by sophomore first baseman Ethan Carter, advanced to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a single. Another run later scored on a passed ball.
The Tigers got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the first inning on an RBI groundout from Root that scored junior shortstop Aaden Scantlin. The bats stayed quiet until each team tacked on another run in the fourth inning to give Plato a 3-2 lead.
In the fifth inning, Plato put a man on first after an error from third baseman John Jordan. A single advanced the runner to third and a sacrifice bunt scored the runner. An error by senior catcher Kolby Sisco on a bunt scored another run for the Eagles, extending their lead to 5-2.
Looking to do some damage of their own, freshman second baseman Jackson Morgan gave the Tigers some hope with a leadoff single in the bottom half of the inning. After sophomore left fielder Evan Edwards struck out looking, Scantlin walked to put runners at first and second with 1 out. Root couldn’t deliver, grounding into a fielder’s choice that got Morgan out advancing to home.
With 2 outs in the inning, the Tigers’ chances of scoring were dwindling. To keep the inning alive, senior center fielder Shaun Buck managed to draw a walk to load the bases for Sisco. Sisco drew a full count walk to narrow the margin to 2 runs. After watching two pitches, Carter tied the game on a 2-run single that plated Root and Buck. A passed ball scored Sisco and an RBI single from Jordan scored Carter to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead.
Sisco pitched the final two innings in relief and held the Eagles scoreless as the Tigers tacked on 4 runs for a convincing 11-5 victory.
“We are in a pretty good place going into the district tournament,” said HHS head coach Brent Hall. “We still make some mistakes, but we have been able to work through those and have competed well. I’m proud of the work this team has done during the second half of the season.”
Houston (10-12; 3-4 SCA) plays Willow Springs in Class 3 District 9 Tournament play on Saturday at Tiger Field.
Pitching:
- Caiden Root (Sr.) – 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R (0 ER), BB, 7 K
- Kolby Sisco (Sr.) – 2 IP, H, 2 BB, K
Offense:
- Ethan Carter (So.) – 2-for-4, R, 3 RBI
- Jackson Morgan (Fr.) – 2-for-2, R, BB, 3 SB
