Royals win eight of nine, finish second at Nampa

The Mountain Home Royals had another good week of American Legion baseball, winning eight of nine games and finishing second at the Winger's Fathers Day Wood Bat Classic at Nampa.

Royals 11, Emmett 6

Royals 7, Emmett 3

Aggressiveness on the base paths helped the Mountain Home Royals take two games from the Emmett Blue Devils last Monday at Royals Field. The Royals won the first game, 11-6, before they swept the nightcap.

In the first game, a six-run fourth inning gave the Royals the lead for good in their win against Emmett.

Alex Burke and Zach Peterson both had two hits for the Royals in the first game. Burke knocked in tree runs and also scored three times. Clay Anderson also had a hit, and Adrian Martinez and Levi Abrahamson also had RBIs.

Tyler McCall got the win, pitching into the sixth inning before Alex Rodriguez came on to shut down the Blue Devils the rest of the way.

A four-run first inning provided the cushion for Mountain Home in the second game as they beat the Blue Devils by four runs.

Adrian Martinez and Jesse Cobos both had two hits in the second game. Martinez hit a home run, scored three runs and knocked in two while Cobos scored twice and drove in one run. Levi Abrahamson and Alex Rodriguez also had hits with Rodriguez driving in a run.

Alex Burke picked up the win, going four strong innings. Levi Abrahamson pitched the final three innings.

Royals manager Alex Hoffman was happy to get the sweep over Emmett.

"I don't think we came out ready to play our best baseball, but once the game got doing, we did what we needed to do to score runs."

Royals 16, Seminoles 4

Royals 8, Seminoles 3

Mountain Home stayed unbeaten in league play last Tuesday, sweeping two league games from the Boise Seminoles at Fort Boise. The Royals won the first game, 16-4, in five innings before they took the 8-3 nightcap.

The Royals scored early and often in the first game, jumping out to a 14-0 lead and ended the game by the 10-run rule in the fifth inning, 16-4.

The Royals pounded out 16 hits in the opener with Jake Hennessey hitting for the cycle, getting a single, double, triple and home run while driving in four runs. Adrian Martinez had three hits and drove in two runs. Alex Rodriquez had two hits including a double and knocked in a run. Also getting hits in the first game were Zach Peterson, Jake Ryan, Teddy Reaume, Alex Burke, Bailey Miller and Levi Abrahamson. Peterson had two RBIs while and John Kennison also had an RBI.

A four-run second inning gave Mountain Home the lead for good in the second game, and the team added two runs in the third and single runs in the fifth and sixth for the win.

Despite the win, Coach Hoffman was not that pleased with the effort of his team in the second game win.

"Our expectation is to come out and get better every day, and I don't think we came out that second game ready to get better," he said. "We saw some good adjustments here and we saw some good adjustments there, but on the whole, I can't be satisfied with that 8-3 victory."

Clay Anderson and John Kennison both had two hits in the second game with Anderson hitting a double. Edy Mesillas had an RBI-double, Skylar Quintal had a two-run single, Tyler McCall had an RBI-single, Levi Abrahamson had a hit and Zach Peterson had an RBI.

Skylar Quintal pitched over five innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win and improved to 2-1 on the season.

Royals 9, Rangers 2

The Royals opened play Thursday afternoon in the Winger's Fathers Day Wood Bat Classic Tourney at Rodeo Park in Nampa against the Idaho Falls Rangers. Mountain Home jumped out to an early lead on their way to a 9-2 win.

Levi Abrahamson went the distance for the win, scattering five hits and striking out six batters to improve to 3-0 on the season that included an RBI at the plate. Adrian Martinez and Jesse Cobos both had two hits with Martinez driving in a run.

Zach Peterson had a double and an RBI while Alex Burke, Jake Hennessey and John Kennison also had hits with Tyler McCall adding an RBI.

"I don't think we were at our best, but we still did things right when we needed to," Coach Hoffman said.

Royals 13, Kuna 3

(Five innings)

The Royals faced the Kuna Diamondbacks in their second game of the Winger's Fathers Day Wood Bat Classic. Mountain Home jumped out to an 8-1 lead on their way to a 13-3 five-inning win on Friday.

"We did the little things right today and played really well," Coach Hoffman said. "John Kennison pitched well and threw just 60 pitches in the win. We really meshed together well."

Kennison went the five innings for the win, scattering six hits while striking our four while improving to 3-0 on the season. Jake Hennessey and Adrian Martinez had big games at the plate, both getting three hits. Hennessey drove in four runs while Martinez had a double and drove in three runs and scored three.

Meanwhile, Alex Burke had two hits and scored three runs while Clay Anderson, Jake Ryan, Zach Peterson, Edy Mesillas and Teddy Reaume all had hits. Peterson drove in three runs while Mesillas had a double and RBI.

Royals 9, Nevada Badgers 8

Mountain Home faced the Nevada Badgers on Friday right after their Kuna game. The Royals battled back from a 2-6 deficit with three runs in the sixth to win, 9-8.

Adrian Martinez and Alex Burke both had two hits and an RBI with Burke scoring two runs. Zach Peterson, Jake Hennessey, Levi Abrahamson, Jake Ryan and Teddy Reaume also had hits. Peterson scored three runs while Abrahamson and Reaume also had RBIs.

Tyler McCall started the game and pitched into the second inning. John Kennison pitched more than three innings while Adrian Martinez came on in the fifth and closed it out and got the win to improve to 3-0.

Royals 7, Nampa 3

The Royals took on the host Nampa Braves on Saturday at Rodeo Park and broke open a close game, scoring seven runs in the final four innings for a 7-3 win.

"It was a good win and a good game," Coach Hoffman said. "Both crowds really got into the game, and it was probably the biggest crowd we've played before all season. We came out and did the little things right, which ultimately led to us winning the ball game."

Alex Rodriguez pitched into the sixth inning to get the win with relief help from Levi Abrahamson. Both Rodriguez and Abrahamson had hits, and each drove in two runs. Danny Brescia, Jake Hennessey, Jesse Cobos, Skylar Quintal and Teddy Reaume also had hits, Hennessey scored two runs and Cobos drove in a run with Clay Anderson adding an RBI.

Razorbacks 7, Royals 5

The Royals ended up facing the Pocatello Razorbacks for the tourney championship Sunday afternoon. While the Royals led early, a five-run sixth inning for Pocatello proved to be the difference as the Razorbacks won, 7-5.

Royals pitcher Adrian Martinez ended up suffering his first loss of the season, despite giving up just two earned runs. He also had two triples and drove in two runs. Danny Brescia had two hits including a double.

Alex Burke, Jesse Cobos, Zach Peterson and Teddy Reaume also had hits with Reaume adding an RBI.

"Hats off to Pocatello," Coach Hoffman said. "They scrounged and scraped and put hits together with our errors and put up five runs in the sixth to win it. Still, we've played a lot of games in a short amount of time, and to be 16-3 on the season, that says a lot for these guys. I'm proud of their effort."