Baseball Game Preview: Ash Grove Pirates vs. New Heights Christian Academy Cougars

Ash Grove has gone a perfect 3-0 against New Heights Christian Academy recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Pirates will take on the Cougars at 1:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Ash Grove came out on top against Sarcoxie on Thursday thanks in part to the team's impressive nine-run fifth inning. The Pirates were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over the Bears. The victory continues a trend for the Pirates in their matchups with the Bears: they've now won five in a row.

Kyler Reece

Runs (Career)

04/17/25 vs Sarcoxie	3
04/14/25 vs Diamond	1
04/12/25 vs Sparta	1
04/01/25 vs Mansfield	1
03/24/25 @ Pleasant Hope	1

Kyler Reece was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. Reece was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Ty Messley and Jaden Shorter did most of the damage at the plate: Messley went 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI, while Shorter went 3-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double. Joseph Jollivette also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Ash Grove was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .448. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, New Heights Christian Academy waltzed into their match on Thursday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Wildcats a 15-0 shutout. Considering the Cougars have won three games by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Ash Grove's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.7 runs over those games. As for New Heights Christian Academy, their record is now 4-1.

Everything went Ash Grove's way against New Heights Christian Academy when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as Ash Grove made off with a 12-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Pirates since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.