After flying high against Skyline on Thursday, Ash Grove came back down to earth. The Pirates took a 7-4 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Ava Bears on Saturday. The defeat continues a trend for the Pirates in their meetings with the Bears: they've now lost three in a row.
Jaden Shorter put in work no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. What's more, he gave up only zero earned runs, the fewest he's had since back in April. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Shorter wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Saxton Kinney, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one double.
Ash Grove's loss dropped their record down to 23-6-1. As for Ava, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 15 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.
Ash Grove and Ava should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Missouri Rankings. The Pirates will square off against Jasper at 4:30 p.m. on Monday with a big rank advantage (132 vs. 295). Meanwhile, Ava (ranked 112th) will meet Central (ranked 376th) at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
