Royals rack up 7 wins, tournament championship

The Mountain Home Royals got off to a great start to their 2010 American Legion baseball season, picking up seven wins and a tourney championship last week.

Royals 10, 16; Pirates 0, 4

The Mountain Home Royals opened their 2010 American Legion baseball season with a doubleheader sweep of the Glenns Ferry Pirates Tuesday night in Mountain Home.

Tom Hennessey pitched a three-hit shutout in the opener. He also received great run support as the Royals pounded out 14 hits, led by Jake Hennessey with four, which included a home run and three RBIs.

Eric Christiansen added three hits, including two triples, and drove in five runs. David Bitrick, Skyler Podesek and Alex Rodriguez each had two hits. Bitrick had a double, and Rodriguez had a triple and an RBI. Tom Hennessey also had a hit and an RBI.

The Royals took advantage of 15 Glenns Ferry walks in the second game and got timely hitting to whip the young Pirates 16-5 in five innings.

Jake Hennessey had another great game at the plate, getting a double and two triples while driving in two runs.

Austin Bodily had two hits, including a two-run double, and scored three runs. Eric Christiansen had an RBI-triple, Joe Gutierrez had an RBI-double, Ronnie Young had a two-run single and Skyler Quintal also had a hit.

Jared Day picked up the win, throwing three innings with relief help from Anthony Castillo and Jake Hennessey.

Royals head coach Mark Cotton was pleased to open the season with a sweep.

"It's a good way to start the season off. I think everybody put out a good effort today. Guys that stood out, Jake Hennessey just had an absolute day at the plate, hit the ball well, played good 'D' and then went out and pitched for the first time in two years, and did a great job, so Jake did well.

"Eric (Christiansen) was a huge part of that first game -- those two guys really got us going, because early in the game, their pitcher (Adrian Martinez) was throwing well and working down in the zone and he had us baffled for awhile, so when Eric and Jake decided to get their bats going, it seemed like everybody else starting hitting a little better and getting a little more aggressive at the plate and not so passive.

"I think early on there were some nerves, but it's some good wins. I think we still have a lot of work to do, but it's a good way to start the season off."

Royals 5, Nampa 2

Mountain Home opened the Meridian Tournament Thursday with a 5-2 win over Nampa.

A three-run second inning gave Alex Rodriguez all the runs he needed as the Mountain Home Royals outhit the Braves 9-4.

Skyler Podesek, Trevor Woodruff and Joe Gutierrez each had two hits for the Royals. Podesek had a double and an RBI. Eric Christiansen had a hit and knocked in two runs. David Bitrick had a hit, an RBI and scored two runs, and Alex Rodriguez also had a hit.

Rodriquez picked up the win, going six innings and striking out seven while allowing just two runs and four hits. Jesse Rodriguez pitched a scoreless and hitless seventh inning in relief.

Mountain Home 2, Idaho Falls 1

(8 innings)

Skyler Podesek's single in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Jesse Rodriguez with the winning run as the Royals edged Idaho Falls, 2-1, Friday in second-round action of the Meridian Tournament.

The Royals managed just four hits in the game, but got a great pitching effort from Eric Christiansen who went the full eight innings, limiting Idaho Falls to just two hits while striking out nine.

Christiansen also had a triple at the plate. Jake Hennessey and Jesse Rodriguez collected the other two hits for the Royals.

Royals 12, Rangers 3

The Royals got their bats going Saturday against Meridian, downing the Rangers 12-3 to remain unbeaten in the tournament.

Eric Christiansen had three hits. David Bitrick, Jake Hennessey and Tom Hennessey each had two hits. Bitrick had a double and knocked in a run, and both Hennesseys also collected an RBI each.

Skyler Podesek, Gage Curtis Jared Day, Alex Rodriguez and Joe Gutierrez also had hits. Podesek had two RBIs, Day had a double and an RBI, Gutierrez knocked in a run, and Rodriguez had a double.

Day picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season, pitching three scoreless innings. Gage Curtis pitched three innings and Jake Hennessey closed out the game by pitching the seventh.

Royals 1, Rangers 0

The Royals were scheduled to play Meridian again Sunday morning before playing for the tourney championship, but the field was needed by the AA team, so the Rangers forfeited their game to Mountain Home.

Royals 16, Idaho Falls 6

Mountain Home faced Idaho Falls for the championship Sunday and got their bats going early as they "ten-runned" Idaho Falls, 16-6, in six innings.

Trevor Woodruff went the distance for the win, limiting Idaho Falls to just four hits while striking out seven.

At the plate, David Bitrick and Skyler Podesek both had three hits.Bitrick scored three runs and Podesek scored four runs and had a double and two RBIs. Alex Rodriguez had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Jake Hennessey, Eric Christiansen, Trevor Woodruff, Skyler Quintal, Joe Gutierrez and Jared Day all had hits. Jake Hennessey had two RBIs and Tom Hennessey also had two RBIs.

Coach Cotton was pleased with the play of his team at the tournament.

"It was a good weekend of baseball. Our pitching staff showed what they could do, and ultimately, our defense made some great plays behind them. Our hitting was up and down. Some days we came out aggressive and hit the ball well, other days we came out kind of flat. In all, I'm pretty excited about what we accomplished this weekend."

The Royals had a doubleheader scheduled against the Boise (Bishop Kelly) Barons Tuesday, and then go to the Mudcat Classic Thursday through Sunday. They open the tourney at 10 a.m. Thursday at Hawks Stadium against Kuna before taking on Homedale at 4:15 p.m. at the Columbia High School field in Nampa.

Friday they take on the Treasure Valley Stars at 9 a.m. at Columbia and complete pool play on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at the NNU field against Blacksmith Fork.

They will play on Sunday for places, depending upon how they did in pool play.