Mar 27, 2008

The Ava Baseball Bears outscored their opponents 27-1 in their first two outings of the season before losing to West Plains 10-4 this week. The Bears opened against Willow Springs at home on March 17, taking a 12-0 decision in five innings. Weston Loftin pitched for Ava and faced 18 batters, recording 12 strike-outs and allowing only one hit. Matt Ritter drove in three runs for Ava, going 1-for-2 at the plate, and scored two runs. Trey Hathcock had two RBIs and scored one run in a 1-for-3 performance. Ava JV defeated Willow Springs JV 13-7 in the non-conference game. The Bears hosted Mtn. Grove on March 20 in a game that also goes down as non-conference play, and defeated the Panthers 15-1. Jonathan Batcheller was the star of the game, pitching a no-hitter through four innings and hitting a grand slam in the Bears’ 11-run first inning. Batcheller faced 14 batters and had five strike-outs. Adam Heriford took the mound in the fifth inning and faced four batters, striking out two, and protecting Batcheller’s no-hitter. Brandon Stanifer caught the game for Ava. Brady Quackenbush was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. Batcheller was 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Nathan Goodall was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Ritter was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Hathcock had one run batted in on a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Ava JV defeated Mtn. Grove 12-6. Loftin started for Ava at West Plains on Tuesday but needed relief from Batcheller in the third inning, as the Zizzers defeated the Bears 10-4. Ava jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but gave up four runs in the bottom of the third. West Plains got three more in the fourth, two in the fifth and one run in the sixth inning to complete their scoring. Ava added one run in the top of the sixth. Heriford had a solo home run for the Bears in the first inning and B. Douglas had a two-run shot for the Zizzers in the fourth inning. Stanifer who took over for Batcheller behind the plate in the third inning, had two RBIs on the day. Ava JV improved its record to 3-0 with a 4-1 win over the Zizzers B team. The Bears are scheduled to play Marshfield here Friday, and the JV Bears will be in a tournament at Houston on Saturday. Liberty will be here Monday for games with the Bears, and Ava will travel to Springfield Central on Tuesday.