On the strength of another superb outing on the mound by senior Aaden Scantlin, the Houston High School baseball team pounded Salem, 7-1, in a South Central Association game Thursday at Tiger Field.
Scantlin was in complete control throughout a complete game performance, masterfully mixing speeds and hitting spots as he confounded Salem batters. He ended up recording a whopping 14 strikeouts while allowing just 5 hits and issuing only 1 walk.
Houston got off to a fast start in the contest, rallying for 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior catcher Jasper McCloy delivered the big blow again, smashing a 2-run double to deep center field to give the host Tigers all the runs they would ultimately need. Freshman first baseman Blake Sanders made it a 3-0 game with an RBI single in the frame.
The visiting Tigers got a run on 2 hits in the top of the second inning, but they wouldn’t score again.
Houston got another run in the third inning when freshman Tucker Venn walked, went all the way to third on an error and then came home on a groundout by Sanders.
The host Tigers put the game away with 3 more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. They scored once on a single by freshman Knox McCloy, once on an error and once on a sacrifice fly by Jasper McCloy.
Jasper McCloy’s 3 RBIs raised his team-leading total to 13 on the season. Venn is next with 9.
Freshman Griffin Aaron leads the squad in batting at .429, while Knox McCloy and freshman Stryker Sloan are both at .407.
Scantlin’s strikeout total was a career-high, and the highest total in many years by a Houston hurler.
“When a pitcher has that many strikeouts, your defense doesn’t have an opportunity to make mistakes,” said HHS head coach Brent Hall.
The victory kept the Diamond Tigers atop the SCA standings at 3-0 and improved their overall record to 7-4. Now in his 29th season at the helm of HHS baseball, Hall is approaching the 400-win mark for his career, as Thursday’s result raised his record to 396-254.
The Blue Tigers dipped to 3-6 and 0-2 in the SCA.
Houston hits the road Saturday for the annual Plato Spring Classic, which also includes Alton – a team that beat the Tigers 1-0 in a wood bat game March 31 at Tiger Field.
On Monday, the Diamond Tigers travel to Mountain Grove for a key SCA matchup.
“This group keeps improving in different ways every game,” Hall said.
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