Royals are district champions

"In a truly remarkable District Tournament at Centenniel and Eagle the Royals, 11 magnificent young men, two coaches and some great parents and fans brought the championship back to Mountain Home," said Soapy Walborn, the Royals coach. After losing the second game to a powerful, deep, superbly coached Treasure Valley "Stars" team, the never say die Royals won five in a row while playing three back to back double headers; beating the undefeated Bishop Kelly Barons twice on championship day. The Royals began the tourney with 12 players but won the final four games with 11 after one of the team captains, Brian Turcotte, had to go to college at Oklahoma.

Thursday in the opening game at Centenniel, the Royals beat Centenniel 11 -0 in 5 innings on a superb 3 hit 11 -0 shutout by Jason Simons. Josh Good was 2 for 3 with a double, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI's to lead the attack. Scott Arellano, Drew Cauffman and Andrew Grodi each had 2 hits as the Royals ran their complex, high energy offense to perfection running the bases, hitting the ball and reacting to opportunities.

Friday against the powerful Treasure Valley Stars with whom the Royals had split during the season and with the winner assured a berth at the State Tournament in Lewiston, the Royals lost 9-7 in 10 innings. Brian Turcotte pitched the first nine innings allowing 3 earned runs, but several defensive lapses, "two horrid inning ending calls" and failure to get hits in critical situations caused the heartbreaking loss. The Royals left 18 on base. Turcotte and Daniel Kaiser each had 3 hits, Josh Good had 2 with an RBI triple and Jimmy Hendershot was 1 for 1 with 2 RBI's. He was hit 3 times, walked once, had a run scoring sacrifice and an RBI single.

The Royals, now in the losers bracket, then immediately beat a strong well coached Eagle team which had won all 3 regular season games by a 7-4 score behind the pitching of Andrew Grodi. The Royals defense executed 3 double plays to back Grodi. Scott Arellano was 3 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI, Drew Cauffman had 2 hits and 2 RBI's and Josh Good had another RBI triple and scored 2 runs.

Saturday with only the 4 top seeds remaining the Royals beat the Boise Gems and eliminated them from the tournament. This win assured the Royals a place in the State Tournament. Jimmy Hendershot allowed 2 hits striking out 9 in his complete game effort. Hendershot also provided the margin of victory with a 2 run double off the fence. Five different players scored runs and 7 players had hits in their 7 hit attack. Andrew Grodi had a run scoring double.

The Royals then played the Treasure Valley "Stars" the number 3 seed winning 7-2 behind Jason Simons 8 hits 5 strikeout complete game. Daniel Kaiser had 3 hits, Drew Cauffman had 2 with a 2 run double, Arellano had 2 hits, Hendershot was 1 for 1 with a run scoring sacrifice and was again hit by a pitch and David Wise an RBI single and a run scored. With this their fourth win the Royals could finish no lower than second but needing to come back on Sunday to beat the unbeaten number one seed Bishop Kelly Barons twice to win the championship and be a number one seed in Lewiston.

On Championship Day on Sunday Drew Cauffman won with a superb 7 hit 5 strikeout complete game winning 5-4. Arellano and Hendershot each had 2 hits in the Royals 8 hit attack. Brian Fields had a hit and scored 2 runs. The Royals manufactured 3 runs with some superbly executed daring base running which included one suicide squeeze and a double suicide squeeze. With this win both the Royals and Barons each had a loss forcing the crucial championship game.

In their championship winning 6-3 effort Andrew Grodi, on 2 days rest, pitched 5 shutout innings leaving with a 4-0 lead in a truly superb performance. Jason Simons already with 2 complete game wins and with only 19 hours since beating Treasure Valley closed out the win only allowing a 3 run bomb after shaking off a sign from the Royals catcher Team Captain Josh Good. Jason just smiled and got the final out on a diving, tumbling catch by Arellano. Jason struck out 3 in his two innings.

Coach Walborn was delighted with the Royals play. "Jason was simply awesome in the opener, holding a fine Centenniel team to one hit. We ran our offense to perfection, running bases and getting timely hits. Even our outs were well hit. That was probably our best game of the year.

"Our loss to Treasure Valley was a heartbreaker. We certainly outplayed them but two horrible calls, a couple of base running mistakes, and our worst defensive effort all year caused the loss. The Treasure Valley players did a lot of trash talking which I absolutely forbid the Royals to do. This did a lot to motivate us to show everyone what the Royals were all about. Our focus was to meet them again.

"The second game Friday with Eagle team was also a huge confidence builder. Andrew Grodi had terrific intensity and determination in pitching his best game ever.

"Jimmy Hendershot was simply magnificent in shutting down the Gems on 2 hits striking out 9. This win assured us of going to the State Championship.

"I saved Jason Simons for Treasure Valley Saturday night and he was in control all night. We just played superb defense and we ran our high energy offense to perfection. We manufactured 5 of our 7 runs," said Walborn.

"Sunday playing the number one seed, the remaining undefeated Bishop Kelly Barons with the District Championship at stake, we won two absolutely superbly played games against a much more rested team.

"Drew Cauffman threw a wonderful game and we simply manufactured 4 runs with superb base running including suicide bunts and a double squeeze.

"In the championship game Andrew Grodi had only 5 innings of pitching eligibility left, but he was simply magnificent allowing just 3 singles. Jason Simons was sensational in closing it out. We learned a lot about character in this win.

"I can't remember a team coming out of a second game loss to beat the undefeated team twice on championship day. We did it with 11 wonderful young people who all contributed.

"Scott Arellano was 3 for 7 with some great base running and defensive play at shortstop and second base. I will not ever forget his unbelievable catch for the final out in the championship.

"Daniel Kaiser played great wherever I put him and was 3 for 7.

"Josh Good is surely the best American Legion catcher in the state and he provided power, magnificent defense and leadership all year. He had a great tournament.

"Drew Cauffman is the best shortstop and centerfielder in the state and he had led us in all offensive categories all year long. He will be a big success at Albertsons.

"Jason Simons won 2 complete games in the tournament and finished the championship game. He has hit the ball really well all year long.

"Jimmy Hendershot was a superb team leader and he won a lot of our most important games including the Gems game Saturday. He had a fine year pitching and with his bat. Jimmy is a marvelous first baseman.

"Andrew Grodi won 2 games in the Tournament pitching when our backs were to the wall and he had some important clutch hits.

"Brian Fields played his heart out all year long and he scored 3 runs and was 3 for 6 on championship day.

"David Wise was our centerfielder in almost all of our games all year. He made so many spectacular catches that we all just expect him to do it all the time. He hit the ball and was a threat on the bases all year long. I have him through 2006.

"Bret Young was a solid first baseman who beat the number 3 seed pitching when we played them at Treasure Valley during the regular season. Bret is a fast learner and will be one of the premiere players in the state before he is through in 2007.

"Aaron Swartz is fast, has a great arm and he will be one of the best hitters in the state before he is through in 2007. He scored the go ahead run in the first game on championship day," Walborn said.

"These 11 truly remarkable young men represent the very best in what young people should be. I much prefer to have great people than great athletes on the Royals and these magnificent young people can also play a little baseball.

"We open at 1 p.m. Thursday in the State Tournament at Lewis and Clark in Lewiston. We truly believe we can win it again."