Tigers win one, lose one during conference action

Thursday, May 1, 2014

The Mountain Home Tigers' week of baseball saw them win one, lose one and have a doubleheader washed out by rain.

The Tigers scheduled doubleheader at Bishop Kelly on April 22 was washed out because of rain. It was rescheduled for Monday.

Mountain Home 8, Skyview 5

The Tigers rallied from a 4-0 deficit to down the Skyview Hawks 8-5 last Thursday in conference baseball at Tiger Field in Mountain Home.

Skyview got to Tigers starter and winner Jesse Cobos for two runs on three hits in the first inning and added another one in the second inning without the benefit of a hit to take a 3-0 lead.

Mountain Home didn't get a hit off Skyview starter and loser Tommy Lynch until Jiame Martinez reached on an infield hit in the third inning. Skyview added another run without the benefit of a hit in the top of the fourth to make it 4-0, but the Tigers countered with one of their own in the bottom of the inning, Danny Brescia scoring from third on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Tyler McCall.

Mountain Home batted around in the fifth inning, taking advantage of two errors and two hits to score five runs and take a 6-4 lead. The Hawks managed a run in the top of the sixth to cut Mountain Home's lead to 6-5, before Levi Abrahamson took over on the mound to end the inning.

Mountain Home got a couple insurance runs in the sixth to make it 8-5 and Levi Abrahamson shut down the Hawks in the seventh to earn the save, as the Tigers kept their post-season hopes alive with an 8-5 win.

"I think today we showed the team that we can be," said Tigers coach Mark Cotton. "Skyview's a great ball club, and they're always near the top in our conference, and the fact that we finally woke up in the fourth inning and started playing our brand of baseball, and executing, that is huge."

Danny Brescia, Cody Blakemore and Jiame Martinez each had two hits. Brescia and Blakemore both had doubles and Blakemore drove in two runs, Brescia one. Teddy Reaume and Levi Abrahamson also had hits. Abrahamson had an RBI.

Jesse Cobos pitched five-plus innings and struck out seven batters to get the win. Levi Abrahamson picked up the save.

Middleton 10, Mountain Home 0

(6 innings)

What a difference a day makes. It was almost like the Tigers had left their bats at home, as they dropped a 10-0 conference game to Middleton at Middleton Friday.

Mountain Home, which had come up with some clutch hits the day before against Skyview, managed just two hits against two Middleton pitchers.

"I am extremely disappointed in our effort against Middleton," said Coach Cotton. "You would think that we would come out and play some of our best baseball of the year after beating a top team like Skyview, but our effort was the total opposite of last night."

Danny Brescia and Jesse Cobos had the Tigers' only hits. Brescia's was a double.

Zach Petersen suffered the loss, giving up seven runs in the first two innings, although just one of those was earned.

The Tigers take a 3-9 league record into this week's final week of the regular season. They had a doubleheader Monday at Bishop Kelly, were home against Columbia on Tuesday and close out their season at home Thursday, May 1, for Senior Night against Kuna.

"We have a busy week ahead and hopefully we can bring the right mindset to the field," said Coach Cotton "Ultimately, I need to do a better job of making sure we are prepared to play every day."

The Mountain Home News continues its weekly series of looking at the Mountain Home Tigers baseball team.

Tyler McCall

Tyler McCall is a junior infielder for the Tigers, playing second base and third base. He is the son of Kevin and Kristi McCall.

Sports, as in baseball, football and wrestling, are his favorite hobbies. Tyler indicated he had several goals for the season: "Help my team make it to state. Help make everyone on the team get better. Have fun -- don't make practice and games seem like a chore or a job."

Cody Simpson

Cody Simpson is a junior outfielder and pitcher for the Tigers. The son of Lisa and Jim Simpson, his hobbies include skateboarding, video games and baseball.

His goals for the season include "to earn a stating position and improve my pitching form and skills." Cody's plans after high school are to "attend college at BSU and get a degree in engineering."

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