The Houston softball program is still searching for an elusive trip to the final four.
One week after winning the fifth district championship in team history, the Lady Tigers’ season ended Wednesday with a 10-2 loss to Thayer in the Class 2 state quarterfinals.
PHOTOS: View images from the Lady Tigers’ quarterfinal game
Houston, which had won eight consecutive games, finished its season with an 18-8 record. Two of those defeats were to Thayer, who plays Kennett in the state semifinals Monday morning.
Lady Bobcats strike early, never trail
The visitors in the playoff game following a coin flip, Thayer scored 3 times in the first inning and never looked back. The Lady Bobcats took advantage of a walk and hit batter to score twice. Houston threw out a runner at the plate to limit the damage but a two-out hit then brought home a third run.
Slow going for HHS offense
The Lady Tigers’ 324 runs scored are the 17th most in a single season in Missouri State High School Activities Association history. But HHS had problems solving Thayer’s McKenzie Morris. The right-hander, who fanned 17 batters the first time the teams met on April 17 in a 1-0 Thayer win, struck out 10 and walked 2 while scattering 6 hits in Wednesday’s win.
Houston leadoff hitter Gracyn McNiell was 3-for-4 with a double and stolen base to account for half the team’s hits. Ashley Gilbert (pictured) and Katy Evans both drove in runs.
Mistakes cost Lady Tigers
The Lady Tigers were far from sharp in the team’s fifth-ever playoff game. There were 7 combined walks, 5 hit batters and three errors leading to 4 unearned runs.
Thayer, the undefeated SCA champions the past two years, had baserunners in 6 of the 7 innings.
Missed opportunites to close gap
Playing from behind, Houston struggled to capitalize on early opportunities. McNiell (pictured) led off the bottom of the first with a single and stole second base with no outs but was stranded. Ava Koch tripled to start the second and was left there as the next 3 batters struck out.
In the third, McNiell had a leadoff bloop double but was thrown out at the plate when Lilly Kincaid singled into short left field.
Graduations will hit team hard
The loss was the final game for the team’s five seniors. Four of them were three-year starters and won a pair of district championships. McNiell, Kincaid, Evans (above) and Gilbert batted 1-4 in the lineup. The foursome, alone with fellow senior Natalie Clinton, combined to score 212 runs and drive in 153 in 2026.