A summer’s worth of work comes down to three games for the Houston softball team.
The Lady Tigers began district play Wednesday against Seymour at Hartville High School. The team is searching for the program’s first district victory.
The semifinals are today (Thursday), followed by Friday’s championship game.
Houston (9-10) is seeded third in the seven-team field.
“I would love to see these girls compete for and win a district championship,” Lady Tigers coach Willy Walker said. “We have worked hard all summer and throughout the season for these games.”
Houston defeated Seymour 12-7 on Sept. 12 at home. But Seymour was short-handed for that game and should be at full strength for the opener. Walker also expects Seymour to throw its ace pitcher this time around.
If the Lady Tigers won their opener, they would likely face second-seeded Willow Springs in the semifinals. The Lady Bears faced Plato in the opening round.
Lurking in the upper half of the bracket is top-seeded Hartville, which received a first-round bye.
“We have proven to ourselves that we can compete against some of the better teams,” Walker said. “It’s just a matter of if we will. We need to alleviate errors and stay focused for seven innings. If we do, I think we can win it.”
Houston had a busy week leading up to district play. The Lady Tigers played Thursday, Friday, Saturday an Monday before one off day entering Wednesday’s opener.
On Thursday, Willow Springs defeated Houston 10-6 on Carter Field. The Lady Bears padded a 6-4 advantage with four seventh-inning runs.
Maddie Vandiver had two of the team’s five hits. Taylor Franklin scored three times.
The following afternoon, Belle Knarr’s sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the seventh allowed Kayla Kelley to sprint home and complete an 8-7 comeback win against Newburg.
After giving up four runs in the top of the seventh to blow a 6-3 advantage, Houston scored twice in the bottom half of the inning to win it. Franklin and Kelley both reached on singles, advanced on a double steal and scored on Knarr’s bunt.
Franklin had three hits and scored three times. Vandiver and Kelley had two runs apiece.
On Saturday, Ava scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to rally past the Lady Tigers 7-6.
Houston scored six times in the sixth inning to erase a 3-0 deficit. Lizzy Swindell and Kaylea Preheim led off the inning with singles and both eventually scored. Vandiver, Franklin and Kelley each had consecutive hits during the rally.
Kelley and Swindell had two hits apiece for the Lady Tigers.
Houston’s busy stretch of games ended Monday with an 11-1 loss at Bakersfield in the regular-season finale.
Vandiver accounted for both of Houston’s two hits. She also scored the lone run.
Walker said he would have preferred to have at least two days of practice entering districts. But he hopes facing quality competition will be just as helpful.
“We’ll have to take it one play at a time to achieve our goal,” he said. “This is not a nominated honor. We’ll have to work and earn it.”
Wednesday’s games
(4) Gainesville vs. (5) Mansfield, 1 p.m.
(2) Willow Springs vs. (7) Plato, 3 p.m.
(3) Houston vs. (6), Seymour, 5 p.m.
Thursday’s games
(1) Hartville vs. Gainesville-Mansfield winner, 2 p.m.
Willow-Plato winner vs. Houston-Seymour winner, 4 p.m.
Friday’s game
Championship, 5 p.m.