Royals run win streak to seven

The Mountain Home Royals picked up four more wins last week to run their win streak to seven.

Mountain Home 14, 10

Boise Seminoles 2 0

A sweep at Fort Boise last Monday moved the Royals' win streak to five in American Legion baseball, winning the first game 14-2, and the second, 10-0, both games going five innings.

Mountain Home took advantage of control problems by the Seminoles' starter in game one, taking advantage of five walks in the first inning to score three runs. They added two more in the second, four in the third and five in the fourth.

Bret Young had two hits and drove in four runs in the first game. Michael DesPres had two hits and three RBIs. Sam Cisners had two hits and two RBIs, Mike Anderson and Aaron Swartz both had two hits and an RBI, Brian Fields, Chris Rau and Jake Hiler all had hits and RBIs, as the Royals pounded out 13 hits in the game, with eight of the nine batters in the batting order getting at least one hit.

Michael DesPres scattered five hits in picking up his first win in three decisions. He struck out seven and hit a batter.

"The guys came out really aggressive, and that's what we wanted them to do," said Royals assistant coach Mark Cotton in radio comments after the first game. "They were real aggressive on the base path for the first part of the game. Michael (Despres) pitched well, and we finally got him the run support he needed. He's pitched well for us all year, and we finally got the run support and played good defense behind him."

In the second game, Bret Young pitched a five inning no hitter against the Seminoles, striking out three while walking one and hitting one. He helped his cause at the plate, smacking three doubles and scoring two runs. Joe Poseley also had three hits, scored two runs and drove in a run.

Jeff Vogl had two hits and two RBIs, Tim Whitmarsh had a two-run triple, Chris Rau had a two-run single, David Zito and Aaron Swartz both had hits and RBIs, and Daniel Rau had a double and scored two runs.

"I was feeling pretty good. My arm was a little tight, but everything felt pretty good. I was throwing strikes and had my control down really good," said Royals left-hander Bret Young. "My defense really backed me up. It was like the first game that we didn't have any errors, and they really backed me up pretty good."

Mountain Home 8

Caldwell Bobcats 2

The Royals made it six straight with an 8-2 win over the Caldwell Bobcats last Wednesday night at home.

The Royals took advantage of five Caldwell errors to build up their lead, and Brian Fields went the distance on the mound, scattering six hits while striking out eight batters.

He hit three and walked one.

"It was a great outing by Brian Fields, best outing he's had all year -- I think that's the first complete game he's had," said Royals assistant coach Mark Cotton after the game. "He really carried us today. He was working ahead in the count, and when you do those kind of things as a pitcher, you're going to win ball games."

Dillon Barresi had a single and a double and drove in two runs, while Chris Rau had a three-run double. Mike Anderson had an RBI double, and Joe Poseley, Brian Fields and Tim Whitmarsh also had hits.

Mountain Home 13

Boise Gems 4

The Royals overcame an early 3-0 deficit to put away the Boise Gems 13-4 last Thursday night at the Timberline field in Boise.

The Gems got to Royals starter David Zito for three runs in the first inning, but Mountain Home answered with three runs in the third, getting a two-run double by Brian Fields, and an RBI double by Chris Rau.

Bret Young and Mike Anderson both had two-run doubles in the fifth inning when the Royals scored seven to take a commanding 10-3 lead.

The Gems got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, and had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth, when Chris Rau came on in relief of David Zito and got a strike out and a fly-out to end the inning. Rau set the Gems down in order in the seventh.

"That was an awesome effort," said Royals assistant coach Mark Cotton. "The guys hit really well with runners in scoring position, and we just had a lot of clutch hitting today. David Zito did a great job on the bump. He gets progressively better every day. He pitched into the sixth, and then Chris Rau came in and shut them down in the sixth and seventh, and it's always good to see that."

Commenting on the win being their seventh straight, Cotton said, "It feels good. We'll see how long we can keep it going."

With their Saturday games at Treasure Valley cancelled, the Royals took a 13-4 overall record, and 9-4 league mark to Caldwell Monday to face the Bobcats. They are home for a single game against the Boise Capitals tonight (Wednesday), and host Mountain View for two tomorrow (Thursday).

Then comes the Pepsi Challenge at Capital and Centennial July 1-4, with the Royals playing a game every day during the tournament.