Pirates baseball seeded second in upcoming district tournament, Lady Pirates softball season comes to a close

The Class 3, eighth ranked Ash grove High School baseball team played five games last week, going 2-3 in the process.

The Pirates traveled down to Ava on Saturday, May 9 but came home with a 7-4 loss to the Bears.

Ava led 1-0 after the first inning but Ash Grove ties it up at 1-1 after the top of the second inning. A three-run second inning allowed the Bears to regain the lead 4-1. The Pirates added a run in the top of the third inning, but Ava got that run back with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 5-2. Both teams scored two runs each in the sixth inning to complete all of the scoring in the game.

Hunter Heffernon went 1-2 with two RBIs, Jaden Shorter was 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI and Toby Barnes finished up 1-3 with an RBI.

The Pirates hosted Skyline on Thursday, May 7 and defeated the Tigers 9-3.

Ash grove eld 1-0 after the first inning but Skyline scored twice in the second inning tom take a 2-1 lead in the game. The Pirates added three runs in the bottom of the third inning to retake the lead 4-2. Ash grove would go on to add two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase their lead to 9-2. The Tigers scored one more run in the top of the seventh.

Ty Messley went 2-2 with a triple and double and three RBIs and Saxton Kinney was 2-4 with three RBIs in the game.

The Pirates traveled to Walnut Grove on Wednesday, May 6 but lost to the Tigers 6-5.

After a scoreless first two innings, Walnut grove took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. The Pirates scored twice in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead in the game. Ash grove would add single runs in the top of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to lead 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Walnut Grove scored five times to walk off with the 6-5 win.

Kyler Reece went 2-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI and Messley finished the game 1-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.

The Pirates hosted Lockwood on Tuesday, May 5 and defeated the Tigers 11-6.

Lockwood led 3-0 after the top of the first inning but Ash Grove answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 3-3. The Pirates added three more runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 6-3 lead in the game. Ash Grove scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to increase their lead to 9-3. The Tigers scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 9-6. A two-run bottom of the sixth inning put the game out of reach for Lockwood.

Kinney went 1-4 with a triple, a run scored and two RBIs, Shorter was 3-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI and Barnes finished the contest 2-4 with a double, two runs scoffed and an RBI.

Ash Grove began their week by traveling to East Newton on Monday, May 4 but came home with a 12-10 loss to the Patriots.

The Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning but East Newton answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 4-2. Ash Grove scored three more runs in the top of the second inning to increase their lead to 6-2, before the Patriots scored three times to cut the deficit to 6-5. The Pirates scored a single run in the top of the third inning to go up 7-5 before East Newton scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game 8-8. The Patriots added four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take their first lead of the game 12-7. Ash grove scored their last two runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 12-10 but that is where it would end as the Pirates would lose by two runs.

Shorter went 2-5 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI, Kinney was 3-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs and Chase Acosta finished the game 1-3 with two RBIs.

The Pirates are 21-6 on the season and were scheduled to host Jasper on Monday night. Ash Grove is the second seed in the Class 3, District 12 tournament that will be played in Stockton. Class 3, top ranked fair Grove is the number one seed, followed by Ash Grove, Stockton, El Dorado Springs and Conway. The tournament is scheduled to run from May 15-19.

Softball

The 2026 softball season has come to an end for the Lady Pirates after their Class 2, District 7 opening round 7-6 loss to El Dorado Springs on Friday, May 8 in Stockton.

Ash Grove led 3-0 after the top of the first inning, but the Lady Bulldogs scored once in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 3-1. After a few scoreless innings the Lady Pirates tacked on two runs in the top of the fourth inning to increase their lead to 5-1. El Dorado Springs scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 5-4. Ash grove scored a run in the top of the seventh inning to increase their lead to 6-4 but the Lady Bulldogs walked it off with three runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game 7-6.

Addyson Murray went 2-3 with a triple, Brooklyn Rowden was 2-3 with an RBI and Brylee Bartlett finished 1-4 with a run and an RBI.

Before the tournament started, Ash Grove hosted Class 2, third ranked East Newton on Tuesday but lost to the Patriots 14-3.

The Lady Pirates led 2-0 after the first inning, but the Patriots started hitting after that. Scoring one run in the third inning, two runs in the fourth inning, four runs in the sixth inning and seven runs in the seventh inning to take a 14-2 lead. The Lady Pirates added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Murray finished the game 2-3 with a double and two RBIs.

Ash Grove begam their week by traveling to Pleasant Hope on Monday and came home with an 18-12 win.

The Lady Pirates scored four times in the first inning, three times in the second inning and two times in the third inning to jump out to a 9-0 lead in the game. Pleasant Hope scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning and four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 9-6.

Ash Grove scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to increase their lead to 12-6 but Pleasant Hope answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning to

 tie the game 12-12. The Lady Pirates finally put away Pleasant Hope with a six-run sixth inning to retake the lead, 18-12.


Jaelyn Daniel was 2-5 with a home run, a run scored and two RBIs, Abby Stevens went 1-2 with a triple and five runs scored, Oakley Dowling was 2-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs, Brooke Nicholson went 2-6 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs, Rowden was 2-4 with a run scored and three RBIs and Murray finished the game 2-4 with a run scored and two RBIs.

Ash Grove finishes their 2026 season with a 13-13 record.

Golf 

The Ash Grove High School boys golf team traveled to Willard on Thursday to compete in the Class 2, District 7 golf tournament and finished in 14th place. Easton Rust qualified for the Class 2 state tournament by shooting an 80 at the district match. The state tournament will be in Farmington on May 18 and 19.