| With the season rapidly nearing its end, Helper finds itself on top of its game. The team is lined with talented players from both Carbon and Emery County and has a good chance of finishing the season off as legion champions. |
After continuously traveling and playing in American Legion tournaments and regularly scheduled games, Helper has returned to its home field where it will compete Wednesday evening in a double header against Olympus. After playing very few games at home the past several weeks, the team is looking forward to resuming play before a home crowd.
This past week, Helper competed in only one game. The team was scheduled to play Wasatch last Wednesday, but because many of the Wasatch players would be traveling for the holiday, the game was cancelled. Now Helper faces the delema of either forfeiting the game or rescheduleing it for later on in the season. Currently, the plans are to play the game later in the season, however if too many rescheduled games exist, the team may be forced to forfeit the game entirely.
After suffering disappointment due to lack of competition, Helper bounced back up and traveled Friday to compete against Granger.
While on the road, Helper resumed its winning ways as the team defeated Granger 8-3. Although Helper came out flat at the beginning of the game, the team loosened up and came back in the third inning with two runs.
The inning began with a Granger error which placed Landon Watson on first base. Jeff Fielder then stepped up to bat and doubled to send Watson in to home.
Fielder and Kent Stilson each had a run in the third which boosted Helper’s spirits and served as the beginning of a rally which would end in victory.
The seventh inning also proved to be a success for Helper who had three runs. By the time the dust had cleared, Helper was on top of their game and walked away with the legion win.
Jamal Lewis pitched the entire ball game and had an excellent performance according to Helper coach Jeff Cisneros. Helper finished the game with 11 hits and only two errors.
Following the Granger game, Helper sent five team members to compete in the annual American Legion all-star game held in Tooele. This year, Helper had the most all-stars of the year.
Representing Helper was Fielder, Stilson, Matt Jewkes, Zac Cloward, and Josh Greenwood. Coach Cisneros was also invited to attend the event and coach his respective team.
Greenwood was the winning pitcher of the all-star game and pitched three innings. During this time, Greenwood gave up only one run.
The team which the Helper all-stars represented finished the game victorious 9-5.
Helper currently is ranked in first place in the legion standings. With a 9-2 record, the team shares the top spot with Taylorsville and Cyprus.
The biggest challenge ahead of Helper will come against Kearns who has a current record of 8-2. “If we can get past Kearns, then we should be able to deal with each team separately. Kearns will be our biggest challenge, but the way this team is playing, they could easily walk away with a win,” explained Cisneros.
Helper traveled Monday to Brighton and will return home Wednesday to compete in its double header. The team will then take the remainder of the week off and catch up on some much needed rest. Helper will then return to action July 15 as the team travels north to take on Judge.