The Houston softball team poses with the second-place trophy from the Blazer Blast Tournament in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The Houston softball team opened the 2026 season with a successful road trip: a runner-up finish in the Blazer Blast Tournament in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The Lady Tigers earned wins over Sloan-Hendrix (16-4) and Greenland (20-9) before losing to Marked Tree (15-14) in Saturday’s championship game.
HHS (2-1) has home games Tuesday against Steelville and Thursday against Mansfield before competing in the SCA Tournament on Saturday in Mountain Grove.
Big offensive numbers
Houston had 36 hits over the three-game tournament, highlighted by 20 in Saturday’s semifinal win against Greenland. Fourteen of the team’s hits were for extra bases, including Katy Evans’ championship game home run that tied the game at 14-all. Evans set the program record with 9 homers last season.
Walks, hit batters hurt HHS
While the Lady Tigers scorched offensively, the team’s four pitchers combined to walk 19 batters and hit 12 in 12 1/3 innings. Seven of the 28 runs the team allowed were unearned.
Aggressive on basepaths
Houston forced the issue on the basepaths by aggressively taking extra bases and stealing bases. Senior Gracyn McNiell had 6 of the team’s 20 steals and scored 11 runs in her 12 plate appearances. Fellow senior Lilly Kincaid, who batted second behind McNiell in the lineup, had 4 steals.
First career wins for Aaron
First-year Lady Tigers coach Conaley Aaron, shown celebrating with sophomore Claire Benoist, won his first two games with the team in his first appearance coaching a school team after 25 years leading travel teams. He replaced Jim Moore in the offseason.
