The Katy softball team’s schedule is hardly kind this weekend, but the Tigers simply are lowering their shoulders and barreling through.

Last year’s 5A state runners-up have won five games in two days – one district game and four at the prestigious Brenham Tournament – and have two more Saturday.

But the more the Tigers play, the more driven they seem to be.

Power hitting propelled them to lopsided wins Friday morning and afternoon, 9-2 against Brenham and 10-2 against Port Neches Groves. Then the Tigers drove back to Houston Friday night for their District 18-5A opener, easing by overmatched Elsik 15-0 in four innings to improve to 15-3.

“We haven’t even touched our potential,” junior shortstop Mattie Haack said. “We can always do better. We just need to be more consistent.”

Haack and Taran Tyler, the team’s most powerful hitters, hit home runs in the Friday day games. Tyler, a second baseman, is the leadoff hitter. Haack, Holly Holl and Melissa Herman anchor the middle of the lineup.

The Tigers return all but four starters from last year’s team that went 35-8 and lost 1-0 to Garland in the state final.

“Our middle of the lineup, and even the top, has really stepped up and done a good job,” Haack said. “The bottom has done what it’s needed to do, too. Everyone is doing their part.”

Juniors Denise Arnold and Kara Solomon are splitting the pitching duties. Both started one game Friday in Brenham, then Arnold started the night game against Elsik with Solomon pitching the third and fourth innings.

“We’re complete opposites,” Arnold said. “Her best pitch is a dropball and my best pitch is a riseball. She throws a little bit harder than me but I have more movement, so we kind of cancel each other out. We’re a good pair.”

Against Elsik, Katy scored three runs in each of the first three innings and invoked the mercy rule with six runs in the fourth.

The Tigers drew nine walks in the first three innings, then added to their lead by capitalizing on three consecutive errors in the fourth.

Katy plays Seguin and Marshall Saturday in Brenham. Teams play six games in the tournament, but there is no championship game.

“We still have a long way to go before we jell and play (at the level) where I think we need to be playing,” Tigers coach Kalum Maack said. “We starting to process. We call it ‘ascend.’ We’re starting to ascend to where we need to. We’re not playing the best ball that we’re capable of, but I don’t expect us to or really want us to at this point. I just want us to keep getting better.

“I want our tempo to dictate everything that goes on, defensively and offensively. We’ve done a good job at that, especially today. There are things we have to work on, but I want us to control everything from the first to the last pitch.”

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