By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Ava Lady Bears were victorious in an extra inning nail-biter Friday night and claimed the Class 2, District 11 championship over the Mansfield Lady Lions.
In the bottom of the eighth, Ava had two outs, bases loaded, and freshman Lexie Gastineau was at the plate with a full count. Her patience paid off as she held her swing and drew the walk for the game-winning run.
Head coach Rex Sawyer said Gastineau was likely Ava’s biggest contributor on the night, not just for her work at the plate but in centerfield.
“Either team could’ve won that ball game right there,” said Coach Sawyer. “Both teams made a lot of errors early in the game. Usually we don’t commit those errors, but we did today. Take it off to Mansfield, they are the ones who made us commit those errors, but the girls kept battling and we came back and good things happened.”
The Lady Bears jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one inning. Ava’s four errors in the second contributed to Mansfield’s seven runs in that frame. Hailey Nelson reached third on an error to score the tying run after Lauren Jones doubled and scored on a sac fly and Megan Langley, Madeline Coble, and Gracie Williams picked up base hits.
Katelyn Stillings doubled to score Gastineau in the bottom of the second, and Ava trailed by one, 7-6.
Mansfield advanced its lead in the fourth with three runs but Ava tied it up with four runs in the bottom of the frame, thanks in part to a Makayla Miller hit that scored two.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
In the eighth inning, Miller’s sac bunt moved Keeley Akers to second as Akers, Mackinley Goss (courtesy running for Sara Mendel), and Devin Rowe loaded the bases and Gastineau stepped up for the game winner.
Freshman pitcher Sara Mendel stepped in for Ava’s ace near the start of the season. While Mendel struggled in the second inning, she kept her composure and held Mansfield scoreless for the final four frames. ‘When we get back on our heels on the defense and don’t make plays for her, she starts thinking about it more,” said Sawyer, “but she did a super job and got stronger at the end, throwing strikes for us.”
Catcher Miquia Heinlein effectively blocked the ball for the Lady Bears. “There could’ve been a lot more runs scored, but Miquia did a good job,” said Coach Sawyer.
Ava and Mansfield have recently faced off with different results. “We played them a week and a half ago and did not come out ready to play and got beat 15-0 in three innings,” said Mansfield head coach Aaron Gray. “The girls have worked very hard on our hitting and they came out hitting the ball well. They put seven on the board in one inning and three in another, but we have to be more consistent and do more than just hit in two innings. We knew coming in it would probably be a high scoring game but unfortunately we didn’t get enough offensive production.”
Both teams are young; Ava starts four freshmen, one junior, and a host of sophomores in addition to their two seniors. Mansfield has one senior after graduating four last year, and two juniors.
“I pushed our girls all year,” said Coach Gray. “Some of my younger girls are learning to play at the varsity level and as the season progressed we got better at it. Tonight hurt and I wanted them to file away the emotions and come out to work hard in the offseason and try to get back in this game again.”
The Lady Lions end their season with a 10-13 record. Ava will host Sherwood October 23 in sectional play.
Mansfield 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 0
Ava 5 1 0 4 0 0 0 1
