The Ava Bears (15-9) and the Licking Wildcats (15-12) had one thing on their mind. They both wanted a shot against Mountain Grove and standout pitcher (and Missouri State commit) Alex Moore in the Class 3 District 10 championship game.
As was expected, it was a close game from the first pitch, but the Wildcats and senior starting pitcher Jordan Mendenhall were able to outlast the Bears 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon and secure a date with the Mountain Grove Panthers.
Ava had a chance to tie the game in the seventh inning after a one-out walk to junior Colton Skyles. After junior Chase Dodson sacrificed the runner to second base, Ava called on senior Gerald Smith. After working the count to 3-2, Smith was fooled on a Mendenhall curveball that caught him looking.
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Licking coach Jason Grose gave credit where credit was due.
“Jordan Mendenhall pitched a heck of a game,” said Grose. “Offensively, we weren’t great. We had a lot of baserunners and could have added on but we didn’t, but, again, Jordan pitched a heck of a game with great defense behind him.”
Licking scored their only run in the 2nd inning after a RBI single by senior Cody Payne. Luckily for the Wildcats, it was all they needed.
Ava starting pitcher Kolten Ritter gave the Bears a fighting chance when he was able to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard after Licking loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning. After senior Zach Hunsaker threw out a baserunner at home, Licking then grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Mendenhall completed the game only allowing 2 hits on the day.
Grose knows that the championship game will also be a battle.
“Mountain Grove is good,” said Grose. “We’ve played them twice this year. They beat us, we beat them. We are going to see their best in Alex Moore, and they are going to see our best in Gage Atchley. It’s going to be another pitcher’s duel I’d imagine.”
Licking and Mountain Grove face off at 4 pm Thursday for the district championship.
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