Royals season opener set

The Mountain Home Royals open their Class A American Legion baseball season Saturday at Bishop Kelly against the Boise Barons.

Michael Hobgood is back for his second year as head coach of the Royals. Hobgood has 16 players on this year's squad, and likes the makeup of this year's team.

"We have 10 returners, and I really like the new additions we have," the coach said. "We will be a defense- and pitching-based team, and our lineup will be built on speed.

"I feel like the guys we put on the roster are guys that bring more to the table than talent. They are all very hard-working, hungry and tough ball players. I think this team can go a very long way. We'll do it a little differently than we have in the past, but as long as we can all come together as a unit, we should be very successful."

Hobgood also credited the talent of his coaching staff, which will bring a lot of experience and knowledge to the field. Assisting the coach this year are Scott Holloway, Drew Sigler and former Mountain Home Tigers and Royal's player Levi Abrahamson.

"We're also going to have Tim Hobgood around as our strength and conditioning coach to add some structure to our stretching and conditioning program," the coach added.

This year's schedule should help build the team, the coach emphasized.

"Our schedule will once again be very busy," he said. "Our division is definitely the stronger of the two in the conference, so our work will be cut out for us, but I think that makes us tougher come districts. I also tried to beef up our non-conference schedule a bit and I think we will be tested by every non-conference team we play, which should make us a much stronger team."

The Royals will play in the Eastern Division, which the coach calls a tougher division compared to others in the state. However, he believes his Royals remain competitive.

"We should be very tough to play," he said. "I would imagine the Gems will be good, and the Capitals and Mountain View as well, but we've been drilling into the guys' heads that our opponent doesn't matter.

"We have to play our game and do our things the right way," the coach added. "If we can take care of those things, and protect the baseball, which means no errors, minimal strikeouts at the plate, and no walks off the mound, we should be very successful."

The Royals will open their schedule with a doubleheader against the Boise Barons. The first game starts at 11 a.m. with the second game to follow.

"I feel like our guys are very excited to get started," Coach Hobgood said.

The Royals will then compete at a Vallivue Tournament June 4 to 6. Their first home games will be June 9 when they host Buhl at 5 p.m.