Trailing 5-0 after only half an inning, the Houston High School baseball team went on to defeat Seymour, 7-5, Monday at Tiger Field.
The visiting Tigers took the early lead with a rally including a double, 2 singles, a walk, a sacrifice fly and an error.
The host Tigers cut the deficit to 5-2 in the third inning, when freshman Stryker Sloan led off with a triple and scored on a double by freshman Knox McCloy and McCloy crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by freshman Tucker Venn after advancing on a fielder’s choice.
With freshman Blake Sanders keeping Seymour’s offense in check on the mound after Venn was shelled in the first frame, Houston kept chipping away.
The host Tigers made it a 5-3 game in the fourth inning when freshman Griffin Aaron got aboard with a base hit and later scored on a 2-out RBI single by Sloan.
Then in the bottom of the fifth frame, HHS junior catcher Jasper McCloy bashed a long solo home run over the fence in dead center field to cut Seymour’s advantage to 5-4. After the next two batters (Venn and Sanders) singled, Venn and courtesy runner Gage Smith both advanced on a wild pitch.
With 2 outs, Aaron drove both runners home with a single, and he scored moments later on an error to put Houston ahead 7-5.
After neither team scored in the sixth inning, HHS head coach Brent Hall called senior Aaden Scantlin to the mound and he closed the door by striking out the first batter, allowing a harmless single and then fanning the final two batters of the contest.
Sanders allowed only 2 hits in 5 full innings on the mound, while striking out 6 and not issuing a walk.
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The Tigers compiled 12 hits in the game, with Aaron and Sloan each having 3 and Jasper McCloy notching 2.
Jasper McCloy also threw out two runners trying to steal second base.
“We showed a lot of grit and grind Monday after getting down 5 to 0 in the first inning,” Hall said. “To get back in the game, we had everyone chip in, which was good to see.”
The Tigers will hit the road Friday (April 3) for a pair of games in Springfield, Illinois. Houston will face teams from Random Lake, Wisconsin, Minonk, Illinois.
