Royals win five of six road games this week

In a busy opening week of American Legion baseball, the Mountain Home Royals won five of six road games.

Royals 8, 8

Kuna 3, 2

The Royals opened their season with a doubleheader sweep of the Kuna Diamondbacks last Tuesday at Kuna.

The first game saw Mountain Home score once in the second and third, and Kuna scored twice in the second. The game stayed tied at 2-2 into extra innings before the Royals exploded for six runs in the top of the ninth.

Tom Hennessey had a two-run single to give the Royals the lead, and Ricky Lee added a two-run home run to make it 6-2, and Chris Rau and Joe Poseley both had RBI singles to close out the scoring.

Chris Rau came on in the bottom of the ninth to relieve Jake Hiler, and gave up a run and then retired the side, as the Royals won, 8-3.

"They were definitely above average for the single A level," said Royals head coach Mark Cotton in radio comments after the game. "Guys were getting caught looking a lot early, and finally we made that adjustment late in the game and we became the aggressive at the plate, and guys like Tom Hennessey, he was huge for us all day, defensively and offensively, and Ricky Lee, that was a great shot on his home run, and all around, Gabe Anderson's throw in the ninth -- I know we had a lead there, but coming up and gunning that guy there was huge.

"Jake Hiler threw well for us. He definitely started off really bumpy. Normally he locates a lot better than that, but he settled down and probably threw a little longer than he should have, but we competed and kept us in the ball game and that's what we needed."

Tom Hennessey had two hits and three RBIs, Ricky Lee had two hits including a home run and two RBIs, and Joe Poseley had two hits including a double and an RBI. Chris Rau had an RBI-single.

Jake Hiler struck out nine in eight innings of work and scattered five hits.

With the first game going extra innings, the second game was determined to go just five innings.

Mountain Home scored once in the first inning, twice in the third, four times in the fourth, and one more in the fifth to claim an 8-2 win.

Ricky Baker picked up the win, going four innings and limiting the Diamondbacks to just three hits. Joe Poseley pitched a scoreless fifth, striking out the side.

At the plate, Jake Hiler had two hits including a double and drove in two runs. Zane Bundy had a two-run single, Eric Christiansen had an RBI-single, Chris Rau had a double, and Tom Hennessey, Shawn Lewis and Joe Poseley also had hits.

"Ricky Baker came out and threw really well for us and worked ahead in the count for the most part and kept control of the game," said Coach Cotton after the second game.

"Our defense was solid all day, and our bats started coming around, so I'm really happy with the effort today."

Royals 19

Barons 3

Mountain Home took advantage of wildness by the Boise Barons pitchers in rolling to a 19-3 five-inning win at Bishop Kelly last Wednesday.

Mountain Home took advantage of three walks, a hit batter and a passed ball to score two runs in the first without a hit.

In the second inning the Royals took advantage of eight walks, seven hits, three hit batters and four Boise errors to score 16 runs.

Boise scored twice in the second and once more in the fifth as the Royals won easily, 19-3, in five innings.

"They gave us a ton of free passes, and we did a good job of taking advantage of it," said Coach Cotton.

"The guys were patient up there when they didn't get their pitches and took their walks, and when they got their pitches, they got some good hits, so I'm really proud of the effort.

"You can tell how excited they are to be out here, and I like the momentum it gives us as we go against the Gems on Friday."

Eight Royals had hits against the Barons. Jake Hiler had a three-run double, Chris Rau had an RBI-double, Ricky Lee and Shawn Lewis had RBI-singles, and Brock Morris, Jordan Cisna, Eric Christiansen and Gabe Anderson also had hits.

Anderson pitched the first two innings, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out three. Jordan Cisna pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two, and Cal Vivier finished out the game pitching the fifth.

Gems 10

Royals 0

The Royals received a case of humility at the hands of the Boise Gems Friday night at Timberline Park in Boise, as the Gems put on a hitting clinic, downing the Royals, 10-0 in five innings.

Boise got to Mountain Home's Chris Rau for 10 runs on nine hits, including three doubles and two home runs.

The Royals failed to score, but left the bases loaded in the second and two on in the third and fifth. A total of eight runners were left on base for the game.

Jake Hiler had two hits including a double, and Joe Poseley, Ricky Baker and Ricky Lee also had hits for the Royals.

"When they had runners in scoring position or they had two strikes on them, they bared down and found a way to do it, where we just didn't," said Coach Cotton.

"Our approach to the plate was pretty poor, and our approach to the game was pretty poor. I think it was a good dose of humility for us, myself included.

"I was pretty high on our guys, and I still am, but it shows we have a long way to go. These guys (Gems) are in our conference and we'll see them again and we'll see them at tournament time, so we've got some work to do. We can't come out to the park like we did today and expect to just show up and win. We've got to show up and get it done."

Royals 13, 14

Braves 3, 4

The Royals went to Nampa for a doubleheader with the Braves Saturday evening at Rodeo Park and pounded out 31 hits and scored 27 runs in the sweep.

Eric Christiansen won the first game, pitching a complete game, scattering six hits while striking out seven. He also helped himself out at the plate with two doubles and an RBI.

Gabe Anderson had three hits and an RBI, Ricky Lee and Tom Hennessey both had two hits, Lee, one RBI, Hennessey knocked in two. Chris Rau had a two-run double, Jake Hiler had a double ands RBI, and Zane Bundy had an RBI-single.

"Eric set the tone," said Coach Cotton after the game. "He threw well on the mound and had seven strikeouts and worked ahead in the count all day, and that's all we can ask for, is for our pitchers to keep us in the game like that, and eventually, our bats came around. Tom Hennessey had a good day at the plate and Gabe Anderson had a great day at the plate and we played good baseball!"

The Royals shot out to a 9-1 lead after three, and pounded out 19 hits in a 14-4 win in six innings.

"To be honest, I totally didn't expect us to get 19 hits in the game," said Coach Cotton. "The guys came out with a whole new approach and played a heck of a lot more loose. I'm really proud of our approach in the second game. Guys are stepping up all over the place. It's nice to know you can kind of plug anybody in anywhere and everyone's going to step up."

Gabe Anderson went three innings and gave up just one hit. Jordan Cisna pitched the fourth, and Tom Hennessey finished up, pitching the last two innings.

Anderson helped himself out at the plate again, getting four hits and two RBIs.

Ricky Lee, Jordan Cisna and Brock Morris each had three hits, Lee had a double and a triple and drove in three runs, Cisna had a double and two RBI, and Morris had one RBI. Joe Poseley had two hits including a double and drove in three runs, Shawn Lewis had two hits, Chris Rau had an RBI-single, Cal Vivier had a hit, and Jake Hiler had an RBI.

The sweep improved the Royals to 5-1 on the season and 3-1 in league play. The had two scheduled at Columbia against the Nampa Indians on Monday, played their home opener yesterday (Tuesday) with a doubleheader against Buhl, and then go to the Nampa Wood Bat Tournament at Rodeo Park June 14-17.

"That tournament should be good -- a wood bat tournament -- these guys are going to have to hit the ball square," said Coach Cotton. "I'm looking forward to playing some more baseball!"