Tigers win one, drop three during Spring Classic

The Mountain Home Tigers won one and lost three at the Buck's Bags Spring Baseball Classic last week at Borah's Wigle Field.

Mountain Home 8, Ontario 7

The Tigers opened play at the Spring Classic last Thursday against Ontario and hung on for an 8-7 victory.

Ontario jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, but the Tigers battled back to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth and went up 8-5 in the sixth. They hung on in the seventh as Ontario scored two runs to get within one, 8-7.

Skyler Podesek had three hits, including his first home run of the year, and drove in six runs to lead the Tigers at the plate. Jake Hennessey, Ronnie Young, Enrique Varela and Gage Curtis also had hits. Curtis had an RBI.

Ronnie Young, who took over on the mound in the fifth for Gage Curtis, got the win. Alex Rodriguez came on in the seventh to end the Ontario rally and get the save.

Timberline 16, Mountain Home 2

(5 innings)

Mountain Home's second game on Thursday was against the Timberline Wolves, who had two seven-run innings on their way to a 16-2 win over the Tigers in five innings.

Jared Day, the first of four Mountain Home pitchers, suffered the loss. Meanwhile, the Tigers' hitters went hitless against the Wolves' pitchers.

Minico 6, Mountain Home 4

The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Minico Friday on Skyler Podesek's three-run home run, but lost the lead in the sixth as the Spartans battled back to win 6-4.

Mountain Home managed just four hits in the ball game, the big one a three-run homer by Skyler Podesek. Skylar Quintal, Jake Hennessey and Gage Curtis also had hits. Quintal had an RBI and Hennessey had a double.

Curtis pitched the final two innings and suffered the loss.

Borah 8, Mountain Home 7

The Borah Lions scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to battle back to defeat the Tigers 8-7 Saturday afternoon at Borah's Wigle Field.

Ronnie Young's grand slam home run in the top of the third inning put the Tigers up 4-0. Borah got one back in the bottom of the inning, two more in the fourth and another in the fifth to make it 5-4 Tigers.

Mountain Home pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh to increase its lead to 7-4, but the Lions took advantage of hit batters, walks and timely hits to record the comeback 8-7 win.

The Tigers got two hits from Skyler Podesek. Anthony Castillo, Jake Hennessey, Ronnie Young and Joe Gutierrez also had hits. Young had the bases-loaded home run for four RBIs and Castillo also knocked in a run.

Alex Rodriguez pitched well into the seventh, but lost the lead and Gage Curtis suffered the loss in relief.

"Our won-loss record might not indicate it, but I think we got a lot better this weekend," said Tiger baseball coach Mark Cotton after the tournament. "We learned a lot about this team and about ourselves."

Ronnie Young stepped up and pitched well in relief while Skyler Podesek led the team at the plate, the coach added.

"If we can clean up our defense and hit more consistently, I think we're going to have a good season," Cotton said. "It's taking us a little longer to get where we need to be, but I really think we'll get there."

Mountain Home takes to the road to play at Emmett on Thursday then hosts the Huskies on Friday in conference baseball. Both games start at 5 p.m.