| Joe Via smacks a homerun and brings home a runner during the Helper game against Spring Creek on Sunday, June 19. |
The Helper American Legion team began their season off strong with a win against Tooele on Wednesday, June 15.
Tooele was demolished in a 8-3 win against Helper. Chris Hatch, Chandler Pearson and Joe Via all scored triples in what was an incredibly well played league game.
American Legion also hosted a great tournament in Helper this weekend. Even though Helper only won one of the four tournament games they played, Helper played a great tournament and were given a lot of support from fans that came to see their local team play. The stands of the Helper ballpark were packed as the local team went up against opponents including St. George, Taylorsville, Kearns and Spring Creek in a tournament that would consist of 16 games in just four days.
Even though Helper didn’t play their first game until Friday, the tournament started off Thursday night with St. George taking on Kearns at 6:15 p.m. This game didn’t turn out as good as St. George probably had hoped with a win of 8-5 for Kearns.
Spring Creek, Nev., took on Cyprus later that night and also ended the night with a disappointing loss. Cyprus took a 6-2 win in their first game of the tournament.
Friday was packed with a lot more action when the games began early that morning. Taylorsville started off the day with a close win over Kearns, 13-10. After that, Cedar City took on and demolished Cyprus with a 8-3 win.
Right after winning Cyprus, the exhausted Cedar City took on Taylorsville Legion and were crushed in the process, ending the game with a 10-1 lead.
After a landslide win against Cedar City, Taylorsville Legion went right back onto the field and crushed Spring Creek with another win of 9-0.
The real action finally started late Friday night when Helper took on St. George at 8 p.m. What started out as a close game for both teams, ended with a six run lead by St. George. Even though Helper lost, this was a well played game for all members of the Helper team.
Saturday was also packed full of games as the morning started with another loss for Spring Creek. Cedar City handed Spring Creek their third loss of the tournament by taking a 8-6 win in the first game of the day.
After the third loss for Spring Creek, Taylorsville Legion went out and completed their third win of the tournament ending the game 10-4 against Cyprus.
| Helper American Legion’s catcher, JD Sherman waits for another team member to throw him the ball, but despite his best attempts, a member of the Taylorsville Club slides safely into home during the American Legion tournament that Helper hosted over the weekend. |
The St. George team came out after this and handed an 8-5 win to the Taylorsville club team.
Once again playing later at night, Helper went up against the tough Taylorsville club team. Even though Helper played tough, they couldn’t defeat the Taylorsville team and the game ended with a 13-4 win for Taylorsville.
Still tired from their last game, Helper went right back onto the field with a game against Kearns. Even after a tough game against Taylorsville, the exhausted Helper team played awesome and kept the score close. Even with some tough playing by Helper, Kearns ended the game one run ahead with a 10-9 win over Helper.
With two long back to back games the night before, the Helper team got up early the next morning for their final game of the tournament.
Taking on Spring Creek in the first game on Sunday morning after already losing three devastating games of the tournament, Helper still seemed undeniably strong.
Helper redeemed themselves by dominating Spring Creek for the entire game, never allowing them to get the upper hand. They ended the game the same way they played it, in the lead. The Helper tournament seemed to be against Spring Creek from the start and with a little help from Helper were handed their fourth loss of the tournament.
Several Helper team members played extremely well during the game. Tyler Nelson, Mike Zaccaria, Blake Mortensen and JD Sherman all scored doubles. Nelson also scored a triple, while Joe Via made a homer with a well hit ball.
Right after Spring Creek was crushed by Helper, St. George took on Cyprus. Both teams played hard, but no matter how hard they tried, neither team could pull themselves out of a 7-7 tie.
Kearns then took on Cedar City at 2 p.m. Both teams were tied at two wins for the tournament, but Kearns was undeniably the stronger team when Cedar City handed them a 10-0 win.
The tournament wrapped up with the championship game against Taylorsville Legion going up against the Taylorsville club team. Even though both teams played hard, Taylorsville Legion took home a 12-3 championship win.
Helper’s Travis Bettencourt and Ricky Lopez both made the all-tournament team, while Trevor Thompson won the Gold Glove Award in the tournament.
The next Helper game will be away against Kearns Post tomorrow, but they will be back to play in Helper on June 24 against West. Helper will also host a doubleheader on Saturday, June 25 against Taylorsville.