Diamond Tigers fall to Licking in state tournament home game

Leading 2-1 after 5 innings, the Houston High School baseball team couldn’t hold on and fell 5-2 to Licking in a Class 3 State Tournament sectionals round game Tuesday at Tiger Field.

The District 9 champion and defending Class 3 state champion Wildcats rallied for 4 runs in the top of the sixth inning and held of the District 10 champion Tigers to secure the victory.

“For the first 5 innings, we did everything we could to stay in the game,” said HHS head coach Brent Hall. “But then they broke through and we just couldn’t finish it.”

Licking got the first run of the game in the top of the second inning. With 2 outs and nobody on base, senior Keyton Cook was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a passed ball and came home on a double.

Houston took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth frame. After seniors Sheldon Starr and Aiden Kelly got aboard on walks, senior Stone Jackson lined a double to center field with 1 out to drive them both in.

But the Wildcats countered with the decisive rally in the next inning. It started with an error, and after consecutive singles, the bases were loaded with no outs. The next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice and a run scored to make it a 2-2 game with runners at first and third.

After sophomore second baseman Aiden Scantlin snagged a line drive for the second out, senior pitcher Wyatt Hughes walked the next batter and was called for a balk on the fourth ball, which allowed the runner at third to score and put Licking ahead 3-2.

Then with runners at second and third and 2 down, senior shortstop Kellar Davis smacked a sharply-hit 2-run single to left field and the Wildcats had a 3-run advantage.

Houston tried to mount a 2-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, getting 2 runners on with a walk by senior Keaton Goetz and a single by junior Shaun Buck. But the game ended when senior Gage Yardley blasted a fly ball that was caught just short of the fence in deep center field.

The Tigers came up with several key defensive plays in the contest.

With 2 outs and 2 runners on base in the top of the third inning, Starr made a spectacular diving catch of a sinking line drive to end the threat and the frame. The Wildcats’ sixth inning rally might have been even more productive, but Kelly made a diving play to tag Cook out at the plate. And in the seventh inning, the infield turned an unusual 6-3-5 double-play, as Jackson scooped up a grounder and threw to Yardley at first, who then threw a dart over to Hughes at third to double-up a runner trying to advance.

“It was kind of a tale of two teams,” Hall said. “That’s what kept us in the game, and that’s what got us out of the game.”

The Wildcats also played some good defense.

“They made a couple of good plays,” Hall said. “There was one where I thought Shaun had a base hit, and another where Wyatt hit a ball well, but it went right at the right fielder. It just wasn’t in the cards.”

Hughes got the start on the mound for Houston and worked 6 full innings, allowing 7 hits and no earned runs while striking out 6 and walking 3. Buck pitched in the seventh frame, allowing 1 hit and fanning 1.

Cook started for Licking and worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing 3 hits while striking out 8 and walking 3. Senior Silas Antle finished, allowing just 1 hit in 2 2/3 innings while fanning 4 and walking 3.

Starr finished his high school baseball career with a perfect day at the plate, going 1-for-1 with 2 walks and a run scored. Buck, Jackson and Yardley had the Houston’s other hits.

The Tigers finished the season with an overall record of 14-9 and went 3-4 in South Central Association conference play.

Hall was in his 27th season at the helm of Houston baseball, and Tuesday’s contest was the last for Houston’s eight seniors (Goetz, Hughes, Jackson, Kelly, Starr, Yardley, Jake Allen and Grayson Mitchell).

Houston’s district championship was the program’s sixth, and the third during Hall’s tenure.

“We set out to win a district, and we did it,” Hall said. “It doesn’t matter how easy or how hard someone thinks it is, the hardest thing to do is win your district, and everything after that is icing on the cake.”

Weather permitting, the Wildcats (24-3) will travel Thursday to Forsyth to face the District 11 champion Panthers (23-4) in a quarterfinals matchup.

“They’ve been there and done that,” Hall said. “When they were down 2-1, it probably shocked them, but they came right back like they do. Hats off to them for that.”

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