| The Helper American Legion baseball team continues to improve on its hitting skills. The team embarked on a long road trip last week. Helper competed in six games, losing only two which came at the end of the long week. |
The Helper American Legion baseball team has been on the road this past week and returned home Monday to take on Park City. The week proved to be successful for the team who played two regularly scheduled league games and four tournament games in Viewmont.
The week kicked off for the Helper team on June 17 as the team traveled to Tooele. Helper successfully defeated the home team 7-3.
The game kicked off with a Jeff Fielder single followed by a Matt Jewkes double. With runners on third and second, Kent Stilson hit a single to allow Fielder a run followed by a single by Tony McFarland which lead to a Jewkes run. By the end of the third inning, Helper had three runs to start the league game.
The second inning also allowed the Helper team to advance on the scoreboard with one run while the team continued to dominate in the third inning with three runs.
Helper looked to Jamal Lewis during the Tooele game. Lewis pitched the entire game and gave Helper the edge that they needed to complete the league victory.
The busy week continued for Helper as they faced off against Mountain View on Wednesday. This was the second league game in the week for Helper who was determined to advance in the standings.
Advance is exactly what the team did as they walked away with a 9-3 win over Mountain View. The game was pitched by McFarland who allowed only six hits and three runs during the game. Overall, Helper played good defense which lead to their success.
The first run of the game came from Fielder who ran in on a Stilson single in the first inning. The team failed to put any numbers on the board during the second inning, however during the third inning, one run was made.
Helper was on fire in the fourth. With Landon Watson on on third and Fielder on second, Jewkes hit a single which lead to a Watson run. Lewis then stepped up to bat and was walked also leading to a run by Helper.
To complete the inning, Josh Greenwood singled allowing two Helper runs. The team was on fire and their was no stopping them.
By the end of the seventh inning, Helper had completed three more runs, leading to the 9-3 victory.
| The Helper American Legion team has been on the road this past week, however when the team is playing at home, there is plenty of baseball fun and excitement. Jamal Lewis slides into second base during a league game against Cedar City earlier this season. The team will compete this weekend in a four day tournament in Montana and will return July 3 to resume competition on their home field. |
After competing in the two regular league games, Helper moved on to compete in the Viewmont tournament. In the first game of the tourney, Helper took on Olympus which was a non league game.
The numbers speak for themselves as Helper defeated Olympus 6-3. The victory came off of six runs, seven hits, and one error by the Helper team. Stilson boosted the teams confidence early on into the game with a home run in the first inning.
The second day of the tournament found Helper stepping up to compete against the hosting team, Viewmont. Going into the game, Helper had a 5-1 league record and Viewmont sported a 5-0 league record. The game was a battle for the top ranking position in the league. As the dust cleared, Helper remained on top with a 8-6 win over Viewmont.
Helper scored their first run in the third inning with a Jewkes sacrifice to center field. By the fourth inning, Helper had found Viewmont’s weakness and began to capitalize on each error the team committed.
Helper had four runs in the fourth, most of which came off of a Viewmont error. The sixth inning was not much different. In this inning, Helper had three runs, completing the teams eight run game.
Despite Viewmont struggling with errors, Helper had a successful game with only one error during the game. Troy Grundy pitched the tournament game and offered Helper experience and confidence which lead the team to a league victory.
On Saturday, Helper moved on to compete in their third game of the tournament. This time, the team faced West. According to Helper coach Jeff Cisneros, the Helper team came out flat. By the conclusion of the second inning, West was ahead 8-0.
Cisneros explained that many of the starters for Helper struggled during Saturday’s game. This allowed many of the Helper players to get a chance to compete at the tournament.
Greenwood pitched much of the game, but was replaced by Mike Smith in the fifth inning. Smith did an excellent job for Helper by giving up only one run.
By the end of the game, Helper found themselves down 9-6, leading to their second league loss of the season.
The final day of the tournament, Helper faced an American Legion team from Billings, Mont. The game would determine the fourth and third place winners of the tournament. Unfortunatley for Helper, the team returned home with a fourth place finish after losing to the Billings team 14-2.
After an intense week of play, Helper emerged with a 6-2 league standing. The team continued play Monday at home against Park City and will not play on Wednesday. The game which was scheduled for this day has been canceled and will lead to a Helper bye.
The team will return to action June 27 as they travel to Bozeman, Mont. to compete in a four day tournament. The team will return and play on their home field July 3 as they take on Wasatch.