Baseball Game Preview: Ash Grove Pirates vs. Sparta Trojans

The Ash Grove Pirates will take on the Sparta Trojans at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Ash Grove will be strutting in after a win while Sparta will be coming in after a loss.

If Ash Grove beats Sparta with seven runs on Saturday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. The Pirates sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 7-6 victory over Early on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Pirates in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won four in a row.

Kyler Reece

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/10/25 @ Early	3
04/07/25 @ Weaubleau	2
03/24/25 @ Pleasant Hope	1
04/22/24 vs Miller	1
04/18/24 @ Marionville	1

Kyler Reece made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off nine hits. Reece was also big at the plate, going 1-for-5 with three RBI and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Joseph Jollivette was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. That run marked the first that he scored this season. Another player making a difference was Alex Acosta, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Sparta didn't have quite enough to beat Cassville on Friday and fell 8-6. The Trojans have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Jase Applegate was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Ash Grove pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Sparta, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.