Golfer Rust takes second in Class 2 boys golf finals; Gray leads tracksters

Ash Grove Pirates fall to state-ranked Miller Cardinals in district baseball championship at Morrisville
The spring 2025 sports season is over for Ash Grove High School after the Pirates baseball team fell in the district championship game and the boys golf and boys and girls track teams all competed in the state finals last week.

Baseball
Ash Grove traveled to Morrisville to play in the Class 2, District 11 championship game on Tuesday, May 20, and fell to Class 2, sixth ranked Miller, 2-1.
Miller took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning only to watch Ash Grove come back and tie it at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning. After neither team could score for two and half innings, the Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning and then won the game when Miller’s Sam Ferguson stole home.
Ash Grove’s Ty Messley was 1-2 in the game with a double and an RBI, and Alex Acosta scored the lone run of the game. Kyler Reece started the game for the Pirates and went six innings, allowing four hits and one run with three walks and four strikeouts.
The Pirates reached the championship game by defeating Marion C. Early, 5-0, on Monday, May 19. A four-run third inning sealed the game for the Pirates, but they added another run in the fifth inning to make it 5-0.
Ash Grove ends their season at 13-11.

Rust claims second at state
Ash Grove’s Easton Rust finished second in the Class 2 state golf tournament that took place on Monday and Tuesday in New Bloomfield.
Rust shot 78 in the first round and 79 in the second round for a two-day total of 157, which was good enough for second place, three shots behind the winner. Also making noise for Ash Grove, senior Brock Long finished in 14th place, 12 shots back with a two-day total of 166. Long shot an 80 in the first round and an 86 in the second round.

State Track
Finally, members of the boys and girls track teams traveled to Jefferson City on Friday, May 23, and Saturday, May 24, to compete in the Class 2 state championships.
For the boys, Dylan Gray had a tremendous showing, finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.88 and fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.34, as well as feats in relay. The 4X400 meter relay team, comprised of Gray, Peyton Self, Ryan Troxell and Hari Thompson, finished third with a time of 3:29.30 and the 4X200 meter relay team, made up of Gray, Greyson Jones, Troxell and Thompson finished fifth with a time of 1:32.53.
On the girls’ side, Marissa Andrus finished seventh in the javelin with a throw of 34.52 meters, Natalie Burns was ninth in the pole vault with a vault of 2.8 meters and Mary Davidson finished 11th in the discus with a throw of 29.62 meters.