Former Locust Grove Pitcher Adrian Houser Takes The Mound At ONEOK

Locust Grove Pirate Adrian Houser was on the mound at ONEOK Field Friday night. Despite not getting a win, he had a lot of local support.

His fan base waited for the Green Country native to return and last night they got their wish.

"Once I told my parents, they told a few people, and then it went around town and everyone just letting me know they were going to be there,” said Houser. “I never really expected to throw here. Everything worked out right, and I get to throw here. So, it's pretty nice."

The Locust Grove native pitched a little over five innings for Corpus Christi and is still looking for his first win in Double-A.

"It's been alright. [I] kind of struggled there at the beginning, but I'm starting to get into a groove of things and everything's going pretty well,” he explained.

Houser was a second round draft pick in 2011. The report on him at the time stated that he had a good fastball and curveball and that he was working on a change-up.

After stops in Tennessee, Iowa and California, he sees his progression. "I feel like it's about where it needs to be. I'm doing everything right and everything down before I make the jump so I don't take a couple of steps back when I make a jump," he said.

As with any minor leaguer, the goal is the Major Leagues. In Houser's case, getting on a surging Astros team featuring the likes of Tulsa native Dallas Keuchel, is hopefully in the future.

"They're leading the AL West by like five games I think, 13 games over .500, which they haven't been that since like '05 or something like that. Which is really awesome, especially since there's a lot of young guys up there I know, that I came up with, and it's really exciting to be a part of this organization," he elaborated.

For now, pitching in ONEOK for the first time and seeing a town's support is a high mark on the journey to the top.