The Ava High School Baseball Bears defeated Willow Springs 16-1 on Monday, but came up on the short end of the score in games with Seymour and Mtn. Grove recently.
On April 12, the Bears traveled to Seymour and took a 7-5 non-conference loss.
Austin Casey was 1-for-3 with three runs batted in and Trae Shelton was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Zach Leonard was 2-for-2, was hit by a pitch and scored a run for the Bears. Garrett Baird, Taylor Coonts and Jesse Johnson each had a hit for Ava.
Trae Shelton, Kody Kutz and Cody Wallace pitched for Ava.
On Thursday, April 14, the Bears were on the road again, this time to Mtn. Grove where they would suffer an SCA loss at the hands of the Panthers, 9-7.
Leonard was 2-for-3, Coonts was 2-for-3 and Johnson was 2-for-4, each with an RBI in the game. Casey drove in two runs, going 1-for-4 at the plate as the Bears out-hit the Panthers 9-7, but to no avail.
Shelton pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out four Mtn. Grove batters but also allowing all nine Panther runs. Wallace pitched 1 1/3 innings, facing five batters and striking out one.
At Willow Springs on Monday, the Ava bats came alive with 17 hits including a solo home run and a double by Shelton who was 2-for-3 on the day.
Leonard was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored in the 16-1 win in four innings. Kutz, Cooper Emerich and Johnson each had two RBIs in the game.
Emerich was 3-for-3 with two runs scored as was Coonts.
Kutz faced 15 Willow Springs batters in four innings, allowing just one hit but walking four. He also recorded four strikeouts.
The Baseball Bears are scheduled to play at Thayer today (Thursday) and will be at home Monday vs. Houston. Both are conference games.
On Tuesday, April 26, the Bears will host Mansfield in non-conference play.
All three of these games have a 4:30 starting time.
Looking ahead, the Bears are scheduled to host Rogersville on April 28, play at Forsyth May 2, and are back home on May 3 for their final home game with Gainesville.
The Bears will wrap up the season in the Ash Grove Tournament May 7-10 before starting district play on May 14.
