Royals win three of four as they prepare for district

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
American Legion Post 101 recently presented an $1,800 check to the Royals.

The Mountain Home Royals had a good week last week, winning three of four American Legion baseball games.

Royals 3, 9

Buhl 8, 8

Mountain Home traveled to Buhl last Monday evening for a non-conference doubleheader against the Buhl Tribe, losing the first game 8-3 but taking the nightcap 9-8 in nine innings.

Errors did the Royals in during the first game, as they lost a 3-1 lead and Buhl scored five unearned runs for the 8-3 win.

Ronnie Young provided the offensive punch for Mountain Home in the first game, getting two hits including a double and driving in all three runs. Ricky Lee and Brock Morris had the only other hits for the Royals.

John McCabe, the second of three pitchers in the first game, suffered the loss.

The second game went back and forth, with Buhl scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 7-7 and send it to extra innings.

Mountain Home scored twice in the top of the ninth and Tom Hennessey held Buhl to just one run in the bottom of the inning as the Royals won 9-8.

Tom Hennessey, who pitched the final two innings to get the victory and even his record at 2-2, also had two hits and drove in a run. Chris Maholick had a double and two RBIs, Ricky Lee and Brock Morris both had triples, Lee had an RBI, Jake Hennessey had a double, and John McCabe, Alex Rodriguez and Austin Bodily also had hits. Bodily had an RBI.

"It's kind of the same thing that's been going on all season," said Royals head coach Mark Cotton of the Buhl split. "The first game we didn't come out and play that well, and the second game, we were a totally different team."

Royals 6

Gems 1

Last Thursday night's game with the Boise Gems has been on the mind of the Royals ever since they watched their 4-1 lead slip away into a 6-5 nine-inning loss at Timberline back on June 19, as they looked for revenge.

The Royals took charge from the start in downing the Gems 6-1 on the Royals home field.

Thursday's matchup had the same two pitchers going against each other, as Trevor Woodruff was on the mound for the Royals, and Nick Brockman for the Gems.

The Royals managed single runs in the first three innings, added another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Gems scored an unearned run in the third.

"Offensively, I think we're really coming around," said Coach Cotton after the game.

"The last time we faced these guys, the same guy pitched and we had tons of strikeouts, and we really started hitting the ball, and we'll see if we can keep this going.

"We've got another conference game tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday and then we're off to district, so momentum's a big part of what we're trying to get here."

Skyler Podesik had two hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Jake Hennessey had a double and RBI, Ricky Lee and Tom Hennessey both had RBI singles. David Bitrick and Brock Morris also both had hits and Trevor Woodruff had an RBI.

Woodruff went the distance for the win, scattering just three hits and striking out 10 to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Prior to the game, Mountain Home American Legion Post #101 presented the Royals with a check for $1,800 that they had raised for the Royals in fundraising efforts this year.

Royals 19

Cobras 9

The Royals won their third straight game Friday night when they beat the Canyon County Cobras 19-9 in five innings in their final home game of the season.

Mountain Home scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to go up 5-1, but the Cobras battled back with two runs in the second and third to tie the game at 5-5. An eight-run explosion in the bottom of the third, however, put the Royals up 13-5.

Mountain Home added two more runs in the fourth to make it 15-5.

Canyon County scored four runs in the top of the fifth to cut the Mountain Home lead to 15-9, but the Royals ended the game with four in the bottom half of the fifth to make it a 19-9 final.

"It's a good sign offensively, I think," said Coach Cotton after the game. "Earlier in the season we wouldn't have put that many runs up on the board, but all though the lineup, guys hit -- guys came off the bench and hit -- and I think that's going to be huge going into district."

The Royals pounded out 17 hits in the ball game, led by Skyler Podesik with three hits, including a double and three RBIs. Ricky Lee, Tom Hennessey, Alex Rodriguez and J.T. Cristobal all had two hits and two RBIs. Brock Morris had two hits and scored three runs, and Jake Hennessey, Eric Christiansen, Jared Day, and David Bitrick all had hits, Hennessey had an RBI, Christiansen knocked in two runs and Bitrick had a double.

The Royals used six pitchers in the ball game, with Alex Rodriguez, who relieved starter Jared Day in the third to get the final out of the inning, picking up the win to improve to 3-2. J.T. Cristobal pitched a scoreless fourth inning, and Ricky Lee, Devan Wilkinson and Eric Christiansen pitched in the fifth, Christiansen coming in to get a strikeout to end the inning.

The win improved the Royals to 11-7 in conference and 19-10 overall.

The Royals were at Centennial Monday night, and closed out their regular season schedule at Kuna on Tuesday.

The Area B Class A District Tournament begins Saturday at Mountain View.

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