The Ava Bears will take on the Thayer Bobcats at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Fans were treated to a battle of the Bears on Thursday. Ava walked away with a 5-2 victory over Willow Springs.
Meanwhile, Thayer faced Houston in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Bobcats never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 1-0 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Bobcats have posted since March 28th.
The result came thanks to McKenzie Morris's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 16 Ks. Those 16 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, Thayer saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Hattie Haynes, who went 1-for-2 with one run.
Ava is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Thayer, their victory bumped their record up to 13-4.
Ava skirted past Thayer 2-1 in their previous meeting back in May of 2025. Will the Bears repeat their success, or do the Bobcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
