Pirates win two games last week, Lady Pirates pick up three more wins

The Class 3, 10th ranked Pirates baseball traveled to Marionville on Thursday, April 23 and came home with a 2-1 loss to the Comets.
 
Ash Grove led 1-0 after the second inning but Marionville answered back with single runs in the bottom of the fourth and sixth innings to secure the victory.
 
Joseph Jolivette went 1-3 in the game with an RBI and Jaden Shorter took the loss, going six innings allowing two runs, one earned and two hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts.
 
Ash Grove hosted Stockton on Tuesday, April 21 and defeated the Tigers 3-2.
 
Stockton took an early 2-0 lead at the top of the second inning, but the Pirates scored once in the bottom of the third inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. Ash Grove plated two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and then shut down Stockton the rest of the game to preserve the win.
 
Shorter was 1-2 with an RBI and Kyler Reece was 3-3 with an RBI. Reece was also the winning pitcher going seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
 
The Pirates hosted Dadeville to open the week on Monday, April 20 and defeated the Bearcats 8-5.
 
Ash Grove led 3-0 after the first inning but Dadeville got back a run in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 3-1. A three-run bottom of the third gave the Pirates a 6-1 lead before the Bearcats added three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Ash Grove tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 8-4. Dadeville scored their final run in the top of the seventh.
 
Ty Messley went 2-4 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI, Shorter was 2-3 with a run scored and two RBIs, Hunter Heffernon went 2-3 with two RBIs and Saxton Kinney finished the game 1-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.
 
Ash Grove is 16-3 on the season and were scheduled to play Class 2, second ranked Miller on Monday before travelling to Pierce City last night and hosting Hermitage Friday night.
 
Softball
 
The Lady Pirates softball team traveled to Marionville on Saturday, April 25 to take part in the Shelby Estep Tournament, winning two games and losing one.
 
In their first game of the tournament, Ash Grove defeated Strafford 7-4.
 
The Lady Pirates led 2-0 after the first inning but the Lady Indians tied it up with two runs in the top of the second. Strafford took a 4-2 lead after the top pf the third inning, but Ash Grove scored three times to retake the lead, 5-4. The Lady Pirates added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure the win.
 
Addyson Murray was 3-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI and Brooke Nicholson went 1-3 with two RBIs.
 
The Lady Pirates fell to host Marionville in their second game of the tournament, 6-5.
 
The Lady Comets took an early 2-0 lead, but Ash Grove came right back with three runs to take a 3-2 lead in the game. Marionville added two more runs in the top of the third inning to go up 4-3, but the Lady Pirates answered back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead 5-4. The Lady Comets scored twice more in the top of the fourth inning and then held on for the 6-5 win.
 
Jaelynn Daniel was 1-2 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI and Lacey McCullough went 2-2 with a double.
 
In their final game of the tournament, Ash Grove defeated Class 2, eighth ranked Fair Grove 5-0.
 
The Lady Pirates traveled to Class 1, second ranked Lockwood on Thursday but fell to the Lady Tigers 5-4.
 
Lockwood jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead and increased that to 5-0 by the end of the second inning. The Lady Pirates scored twice in the top of the third inning and then added another run in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 5-3. The Lady Tigers scored again in the bottom of the sixth inning and Ash Grove added their final run in the top of the seventh inning to close out the scoring.
 
Oakley Dowling was 1-3 with a run scored and an RBI and Brylee Bartlett and Brooklyn Rowden both finished 1-4 with an RBI in the game.
 
On Wednesday, April 22, the Lady Pirates traveled to Class 2, ninth ranked Miller but lost to the Lady Cardinals 12-2.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Miller scored four times in the bottom of the second to take a 4-0 lead in the game. Ash Grove twice in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 4-2 but Miller would go on to score six times in the bottom of the fourth inning and two times in the bottom of the fifth inning to win the game.
 
Nicholson was 3-3 with a home run, a run scored and two RBIs and Abby Stevens finished 1-3 with a double and a run scored.
 
Ash Grove started their week by hosting Pierce City on Tuesday and defeated the Lady Eagles 4-2.
 
It was a pitchers’ duel for the first two and half innings, before the Lady Pirates scored in the bottom of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. Ash Grove added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase their lead to 4-0. Pierce City scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
 
Bartlett went 1-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, Natalie Jolivette was 1-2 with a run scored and an RBI and McCullough finished the game 2-4 with an RBI. McCullough also got the win by going seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned on eight hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts.
 
Ash Grove is 11-10 on the season and were scheduled to play at Class 2, number one ranked Skyline on Monday before traveling home to play Forsyth last night and Greenfield Friday night.