Just before Lilly Kincaid led off the bottom of the eighth inning of a tied game, Houston softball coach Conaley Aaron had a quick conversation with his senior about her approach for the at-bat.
“I asked her, ‘Do you want to bunt or do you want to hit?’” Aaron said. “And she said, ‘I’ll just end it.’ I said, ‘Okay, then do it.’”
She did – in dramatic fashion.
Kincaid drove a 3-2 fastball from Salem left-hander Alaina Norris over the center field fence on Carter Field to lift the Lady Tigers to a 9-8 extra-innings victory Monday afternoon.
“It was middle out. That’s where she’d been throwing me the whole game, and I knew she was going to throw a strike. I was ready to swing.”
Houston senior Lilly Kincaid
Kincaid’s line-drive blast completed Houston’s comeback in its conference opener. The Lady Tigers twice trailed by three runs – in the first and sixth innings – and needed two in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
After retiring Salem on just five pitches in the top of the eighth, Kincaid led off the bottom half of the inning and smacked the sixth pitch she saw out of the ballpark.
“I couldn’t be happier for that kid,” Aaron said. “She drove that ball. It didn’t get more than 10 feet off the ground.”
It was the third career homer and second of the season for Kincaid. Her first in 2026 was an inside-the-park version.
“I didn’t know it was gone,” she said. “I was just running. I wasn’t even watching it.”
Kincaid’s homer was one of three for HHS (7-5, 1-0 SCA). Katy Evans hit a towering 3-run shot to left field in the third and sophomore Jenna Warner hit a pinch-hit drive over the center-field fence in the sixth.
Kincaid and senior catcher Gracyn McNiell had two hits apiece and both scored twice. McNiell, Ava Koch and Claire Benoist stole two bases each.
Kincaid allowed just one run in the final three innings for the win. She gave up two hits and walked two while striking out three.
PHOTOS: View images from the Lady Tigers’ win
The Lady Tigers’ defense turned a pair of crucial double plays to thwart Salem’s scoring opportunities.
With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Koch fielded a one-hopper back to the mound and threw home to McNiell, who fired to Ashley Gilbert at first base for a 1-2-3 double play. Again with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Benoist grabbed a grounder at third and came home to McNiell who threw to Gilbert for a 5-2-3 double play.
The victory gave HHS two wins against former coach Jim Moore – the Lady Tigers also defeated Salem 5-3 in the SCA tournament on March 28 – and a team Houston anticipates it could face in districts.
“It’s probably an opponent we’re going to see again,” Aaron said. “If it comes down to us and them, we’ve got to figure out the tough thing – how to beat them a third time.”
After Salem took a 3-0 lead in the first, McNiell tripled off the left-field fence and scored on Kincaid’s RBI single to right. Kincaid later scored on a dropped third strike to make it 3-2.
With HHS trailing 4-2 in the third, Natalie Clinton walked and McNiell singled to left to start the inning. Following Kincaid’s sacrifice bunt, Evans clobbered the first pitch of her at-bat out of the park for her third homer of the season.
As Evans rounded third base and slapped hands with Aaron, he told his slugger, “Welcome back.”
“She had a rough weekend in Illinois – as most of the girls did,” Aaron said of his team’s three losses by a combined score of 56-17 Friday and Saturday in Jacksonville, Illinois. “She finally kind of calmed down during BP today before the game and she’s back. She looks like she’s back.”
With the Lady Tigers down to their final three outs in the seventh, Benoist reached via an error and quickly stole second and third base. Koch followed with a bloop RBI single to left to make it 8-7.
After Koch stole second and third, sophomore Izzy Cook put down a sacrifice bunt to score Koch and tie it 8-all. Cook stole second and reached third on a wild pitch, but Norris got three straight strikeouts to leave the potential winning run stranded.
After quickly retiring Salem with three popouts in the top of the eighth, Kincaid ended the game with her home run.
“It’s special,” Kincaid said. “It’s our former coach and we wanted to win.
“We never gave up. We fought to the end.”
VIDEO: Kincaid’s walk-off homer
BOX SCORE
Salem 301 031 00 – 8 11 4
Houston 203 001 121 – 9 9 3
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – McNiell c 4-2-2-0. Kincaid ss 3-2-2-2. Evans 2b 2-1-1-3. Gilbert 1b 3-0-1-1. Benoist 3b 4-1-1-0. Koch p 4-1-1-0. Cook rf 2-0-0-1. Warner ph 1-1-1-1. Shuman dp 2-0-0-0. Melroy ph 2-0-0-0. Clinton cf 3-1-0-0. Totals 30-9-9-8.
3B: McNiell. HR: Warner, Evans, Kincaid. SB: Koch 2, Benoist 2, McNiell 2, Cook. SAC: Cook.
WP: Kincaid.