Royals place second at Montana tournament

In a busy week of baseball, the Mountain Home Royals came away with six wins in eight games, and finished second at the Maybelle Arthur Memorial American Legion Baseball Tournament in Dillon, Mont.

Mountain Home, 11, 11

Kuna Diamondbacks 1, 0

The only thing to date that could stop the Mountain Home Royals from winning was the weather, as the home opening doubleheader against the Kuna Diamondbacks on June 8 was halted originally by lightning, and then by rain when the onset of moisture made the infield a lake.

Play resumed last Monday, with the Royals leading 2-0 in the third inning of game one, and a five-run third inning put the game out of reach.

The Royals scored three more runs in the fourth to make it 10-1, and Bret Young ended the game by the 10-run rule with a walk-off single in the sixth.

Young also picked up the win, throwing four innings of one-hit ball, striking out six. Jordan Cisna pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Chris Rau, Aaron Swartz and Bret Young all had two hits in the first game. Rau had two doubles and knocked in five runs, and Young had a triple and two RBIs. Cal Vivier and Joe Poseley also had hits, and Vivier, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch, scored four times.

In the second game, Mountain Home scored two runs in the first, added five in the second and three in the third to roll out to a 10-0 lead. The game ended, 11-0, in the fifth by the 10-run rule.

Jesse Burton led the Royals at the plate with three hits, including a double, and knocked in a run. Bret Young had two doubles and two RBIs, Mike Anderson had a two-run double, and Jeff Vogl and Chris Rau also had hits and RBIs.

Aaron Swartz picked up the win, throwing three scoreless and hitless innings while striking out six. Jeff Vogl and Alex Hoffman both pitched scoreless innings of relief, Vogl surrendering the only hit by Kuna in the game, and Hoffman had two strikeouts.

"The kids were awesome today," said Royals coach Mark Cotton after the sweep. "It's great to have a guy like Aaron Swartz come out -- he hadn't thrown in a while -- and he absolutely mowed them down and had great control all day. We're really proud of him. As far as hitting goes, all the way through the lineup, we hit the ball well."

The Kuna sweep improved the Royals to 3-0 in league play and 5-0 overall.

Mountain Home 6

Mission Valley 4

Great pitching and timely hitting helped Mountain Home open the Dillon Cubs American Legion Maybelle Arthur Memorial Baseball Tournament in Dillon, Mont., with a 6-4 win over Mission Valley last Thursday morning.

Michael DesPres went the distance for the win, giving up just five hits while striking out 14 Mariner batters.

The Royals managed just four hits off the Mission Valley pitcher, but they were timely, and took advantage of nine walks and three hit batters to score their runs.

Mission Valley took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Royals tied it in the bottom half on two bases-loaded walks.

The Mariners went ahead, 3-2, in the third, but an RBI single by Bret Young in the fifth tied it at 3-3.

Mission Valley regained the lead in the top of the sixth, taking a 4-3 lead.

Alex Hoffman's single in the bottom half of the inning tied the game at 4-4, and Chris Rau followed with a two-run double to put the Royals up for good, 6-4.

"It was a great win," said Coach Cotton. "It went back and forth the whole game. We got a great pitching performance from Mike DesPres. He was pretty impressive -- he struck out 14 -- and that was with a bum leg. The Mission Valley guy that we were facing has a full-ride scholarship to Lewis-Clark State College and we battled real well with him the whole game, and ultimately had a great hit by Chris (Rau) to seal the deal."

Besides Chris Rau's two-run double, Alex Hoffman and Bret Young had RBI-singles. Aaron Swartz had the only other hit for the Royals, and Michael DesPres and Joe Poseley had RBIs.

Mountain Home 7

Missoula 2

Day two of the Dillon Tournament once again saw Mountain Home make the most of their at bats as they downed Missoula, 7-2, last Friday morning.

The Royals had only four hits, but three of them, including two home runs, were extra-base hits, and they also took advantage of five walks and five hit batters.

Chris Rau went the distance, giving up just one earned run while striking out seven and limiting Missoula to just six hits. He also cracked a solo home run in the top of the seventh, right after Alex Hoffman had smacked a two-run shot, to give the Royals a 7-2 lead.

"It took us a little while to get going against them," said Coach Cotton. "They had a guy (pitcher) that was pretty solid on the bump. He was mowing us down there for a while. We finally got it going there in the fifth.

"We moved some guys around and eventually Chris (Rau) and Alex (Hoffman) hit back-to-back home runs, which really kind of gave us a good boost there.

"Chris had a great game for us and had great stuff the whole game. In my opinion, I think it was Chris' best outing of the year. His curve ball was working and his fast ball was up there, he just refused to lose."

Besides the home runs by Chris Rau and Alex Hoffman, Mountain Home had a two-run double by Mike Anderson, and a single by Bret Young. Aaron Swartz had an RBI.

Belgrade 7

Royals 6

Mountain Home had back-to-back games Friday, facing a strong and experienced Belgrade team right after their Missoula win. The game went down to the wire, with Belgrade, the home team, coming back from a 6-5 deficit to score two runs in their last at bat, the winning run coming on a suicide squeeze bunt.

Mountain Home scored two in the top of the first, Belgrade got three in the bottom of the inning. The Royals got two more in the top of the second to lead, 4-3, but Belgrade tied it with one in the bottom of the second. Both teams scored a run in the third, and Mountain Home regained the lead on an Alex Hoffman home run in the fifth.

Belgrade tied it with a home run in the bottom of the seventh, and Mike Anderson replaced Bret Young on the mound after the potential winning run reached on a single.

With one out, and the winning run at third, Belgrade executed a suicide squeeze to score the winning run and win, 7-6.

"It was a little flashback to high school state (when the Tigers lost to Sandpoint, 1-0, on a suicide squeeze), I guess," said Cotton, "but the guys played a great game from the beginning to the end. Our sticks finally came alive and we're finally starting to hit the ball like we've really wanted to hit it, and as far as the team goes, we've really, really come together.

" This is a great group of guys out here. I can't say enough good things about this team, and one through 16, we're all supportive of each other, and it's really starting to show while we're here."

Alex Hoffman had two doubles and a home run and drove in three runs. Aaron Swartz and Bret Young both had hits and RBIs, Chris Rau had a double, and Michael DesPres and Mike Anderson also had hits. Bret Young suffered his first loss of the season, pitching into the seventh, striking out seven batters.

Royals 21

Dillon 11

Mountain Home bounced back from their Belgrade loss, which was their first of the season, and made short work of the host Dillon Cubs Saturday night, pounding out 18 hits in a 21-11 five inning win.

The Royals sent 15 different players to the plate, and 13 of them had at least one hit against the Cubs. Chris Rau had two hits including a double and drove in four runs, Bret Young had two hits and three RBIs. Joe Poseley had two hits and two RBIS, those coming on a home run. Aaron Swartz and Michael DesPres both had two hits and an RBI. Mike Anderson and Alex Hoffman both had hits and two RBIs, while Derek Thorton, Jake Hiler, John Murdorf, Jeff Vogl, Cal Vivier and Zane Bundy each had hits and RBIs. Steven Budine also had an RBI.

Aaron Swartz pitched up the win, with relief help from Jeff Vogl.

The two combined for eight strikeouts and gave up just six hits.

"We hit the ball really well tonight," said Coach Cotton. "Even the guys that came off the bench had some good hits. Aaron Swartz struggled a little bit in the first, but figured it out in the second before running into some trouble in the third. Jeff Vogl came in and stepped up big and closed the game out for us."

Royals 9

Billings 1

The Royals got a big shot in the arm when Jake Hiler pitched a complete game eight-hitter Sunday morning against Billings. The Royals broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the fourth, added two more in the fifth and four more in the sixth for the 9-1 win. Hiler struck out six and walked just one in going the distance for the win, his first of the season.

Tim Whitmarsh made the most noise at the plate for the Royals, getting two hits and driving in three runs. Michael DesPres and Joe Poseley both had two-run singles. Aaron Swartz, Chris Rau and Bret Young all had hits, and Jake Hiler had an RBI.

"Jake Hiler did an awesome job for us on the bump today," said Coach Cotton. "He didn't give up an earned run, and walked only one. That speaks well for a team when you can get that much pitching five games into the tournament."

Belgrade 20

Royals 9

The Billings win put the Royals in the championship game late Sunday afternoon against Belgrade, the only team to beat them in the tournament. Through five innings, things were looking Mountain Home's way, but a 10-run sixth -- Belgrade scored 20 runs in the final three innings to win the game and the championship.

Mountain Home scored a run in the first, and added four more in the third to lead, 5-0. With Michael DesPres taking over on the mound in the fourth, things looked good for the Royals.

Then in the fifth, the Royals committed three fielding errors with two out, and Belgrade came back to tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth. Bret Young crashed a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Royals the lead back, 6-5, but then came the sixth, and it took three Mountain Home pitchers to get Belgrade out, and 10 runs had scored before they did.

Belgrade then scored five more in the seventh to make it a 20-9 final.

"Obviously the game didn't go the way we wanted it to," said Coach Cotton on the way back to Mountain Home. "We made some crucial errors at crucial times, but you know, we've got a young infield, and that's something they're going to learn from. I think the biggest thing we learned from this trip is what it means to be a team, and these guys really came together. It was a great trip and this game isn't going to leave a sour taste in our mouth because the trip to Montana was great."

Bret Young led the Royals at the plate with a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, getting a single, double and a home run while driving in three runs. Mike Anderson and Alex Hoffman also had three hits. Aaron Swartz had two hits, Michael DesPres had a hit and two RBIs, Tim Whitmarsh and Jake Hiler also had hits, and Cal Vivier and Joe Poseley had RBIs.

With the loss, the Royals stand at 9-2 overall, and return to a busy week of conference games this week. The Royals hosted the Boise Capitals for two games last night, both conference games, and host the Boise Seminoles for two today starting at 5 p.m., with both games counting as conference games. They travel to Centennial for a 7 p.m. game tomorrow night, and go to Nampa for two on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.