Diamond Tigers win district championship

The only run of the contest was scored on a dropped infield pop fly, but it was all the Houston High School baseball team needed to beat Thayer 1-0 in the Class 3 District 10 Tournament championship game Wednesday at Tiger Field.

“You tell the boys when they play in a game like this that everything you ever did leading up to it – whether good or bad – becomes worth it,” said HHS head coach Brent Hall. “All the early mornings and late nights, all the work in the summer, and missing all the things you could be doing other than baseball, it’s all worth it right there.”

For most of the contest, HHS senior Wyatt Hughes and Thayer junior Devin Harrington hooked up in a pitcher’s duel. Hughes ended up tossing a complete game 3-hitter, striking out 11 (including the final batter) while not issuing a walk.

Meanwhile, the 6-5 Harrington (who plays quarterback for the Bobcats’ football team and is also a star basketball player) worked 5 2/3 innings before being lifted due to the pitch count rule, allowing 5 hits while striking out 11 and walking 3.

Seeded No. 1 in the tournament’s 5-team field, the Tigers had baserunners in 6 different innings in the game while the third-seeded Bobcats got players on base in 3 frames.

Houston’s run came in the fifth inning. Senior right fielder Grayson Mitchell led off with a walk, moved to second base on a bunt single by senior center fielder Sheldon Starr and took third on a sacrifice bunt by senior catcher Aiden Kelly. Hughes then popped a ball up on the right side of the infield and the ball bounced out of the glove of Thayer’s second baseman.

With runners at second and third after a passed ball, Harrington got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

The Tigers threatened again in the sixth inning, loading the bases on a 1-out single and a pair of 2-out walks, but all three runners were left stranded after an infield pop-out.

HHS junior Shaun Buck got aboard in all three of his at-bats against while Harrington was on the mound, twice on hard-hit singles and once on a walk.

With the win, the Tigers (14-8) avenged 2-0 loss April 30 at Thayer (8-9).

“It’s amazing,” Hughes said. “This was a team effort and I’m just so proud of everybody. They’re a good team, but we came together and made the plays we had to make, and that’s why we won today.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” Starr said. “I’m kind of more shocked than anything, honestly. But a lot of work went into this; we were on the field or in the cage every day for several hours. It’s great.”

SHORT AND SWEET

Hitting and scoring prolifically from the get-go, the Diamond Tigers routed Seymour 15-0 in a run-rule shortened district tournament semifinals game on Tuesday at Tiger Field.

Houston scored 9 runs in the first inning and 6 in the second to dispatch fourth-seeded Seymour in only 2 ½ innings.

The host Tigers’ offense batted around in both innings, sending 13 players to the plate in the first inning and 10 in the second. Houston racked up 10 hits in the short outing, with 7 players getting at least 1.

Senior Stone Jackson continued his torrid hitting for the Tigers, going 2-for-3 with a 2-run double, a 3-run single and a run scored. Kelly and Starr also had multi-hit outings, as Kelly went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, an RBI and 3 runs scored, while Starr went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs.

Buck pitched for Houston and allowed just 2 hits while striking out 5 and walking none.

Thayer beat second-seeded Willow Springs 2-1 in the other semifinal matchup. Seymour (7-11) reached the semifinals by defeating No. 5 Liberty (6-14) in a play-in game on Saturday, May 11, 4-3.

Houston advances to the Class 3 State Tournament and will host a round-of-16 game next Tuesday (May 21) against the District 9 champion Licking. The defending Class 3 state champion Wildcats blanked Belle 10-0 in their district championship game and will come into the contest with a season record of 23-3.

The Tigers’ district crown is the HHS baseball program’s sixth. The others came in 1975, 1980, 1992 (coach Hall’s senior year), 2007 (Hall’s first season as coach when the Tigers were state runners-up) and 2019.

The Tigers have eight seniors on the roster this season.

“This group is like no other – in some good ways and some bad ways,” Hall said. “We kind of limped along toward the end of our season, and we had some bad practices just before they graduated. They weren’t focused and we weren’t really getting anything done.

“On graduation day, we ended practice early and I told them, ‘guys, let’s get graduation over and let’s get your graduation parties over, and then let’s refocus.’ They came back and focused as well or better than any team I’ve had.”

The Tigers’ seniors have been involved in multiple close calls in postseason, but had never been on a team that got over the hump, so to speak.

“Four long years,” Kelly said. “We’ve been close every single year and we finally did it. We’ve worked so much, and it finally paid off.

“And this group of seniors is my group. This is my group of friends and teammates, and it’s amazing to finally win districts with them.”

After scuffling at times during the regular season, the Tigers weren’t necessarily expected to win a district championship. A statement Hughes made to his teammates just prior to the first-place plaque presentation summed up where the squad now stands.

“We’re playing with house money now boys!” he said.

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