The Ava Bears defeated Mansfield in their final home game of the season last Friday, then played in the Ash Grove Tournament starting Saturday.
Ava managed to win only two of four games at Ash Grove.
District play begins this Saturday at Salem.
On Friday, the Bears defeated Mansfield 10-3.
Ben Loge pitched six innings for Ava, allowing three runs on three hits, and striking out seven Mansfield batters.
Cody Wallace finished the game for Ava, facing just three batters in the top of the seventh inning.
Trae Shelton was 2-for-2 at the plate with a home run and a triple, and four runs batted in on the day.
Zach Leonard was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Jeff Smalley was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Freshman Cooper Emerich was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Ava opened play in the Ash Grove Tournament on Saturday against the host team and lost, 7-5.
Ava managed only five hits in the game, and no individual had more than one hit on the day.
Garrett Baird’s lone hit was a 2-run home run and Cody Wallace doubled in two runs. Leonard also had an RBI for the Bears.
The Bears next faced Springfield Central and picked up an 8-3 win, with the Ava bats doing much better.
Shelton was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, two RBIs and a run scored.
Baird was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Austin Casey was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Loge was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Emerich was 2-for-2 with a run scored.
The Bears returned to Ash Grove Monday to face Marionville and suffered a 14-7 loss.
Shelton was 3-for-4 with two singles and a triple and two runs scored.
Baird was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Loge was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Bears were back in tournament action on Tuesday, May 10, facing Central once again, and this time took a 9-4 win from the Bulldogs.
Shelton and Leonard both homered for the Bears and each had two RBIs on the day. Leonard was 3-for-4 with a double and a single, and two runs scored.
Jesse Johnson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored and Kody Kutz was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Ava pounded out 14 hits on the day.
