Royals post five wins, finish second at Columbia

The Mountain Home Royals won five of seven games last week and finished second at the Columbia Wood Bat Tournament in Nampa.

Royals 23, Senators 4

The Mountain Home Royals scored 11 runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull away for a decisive 23-4 win over the Boise Senators last Tuesday. The game launched a scheduled doubleheader at Borah's Wigle Field.

Zach Peterson had five hits and five RBIs, Jake Hennessey had two doubles and two triples while driving in five runs during the win. Adrian Martinez had four hits and two RBIs, Levi Abrahamson had two hits and drove in two runs. Jake Ryan had a hit and two RBIs, and Tyler McCall also knocked in a run.

John Kennison picked up the win while Skylar Quintal struck out eight in four innings of relief to get the save.

"We got a lot of hits in the scorebook, which is positive because we kind of thought that would be our struggle," said Royals manager and head coach Alex Hoffman. "We weren't as aggressive as we'd have liked to be. But at the same time, it's hard for me to complain, and it will be something to build on."

The second game of the doubleheader was postponed in the bottom of the first inning with Mountain Home leading 4-0 when the field's sprinkler system came on and a bank of lights went out. That game was rescheduled for 2 p.m. July 9.

Mountain Home 2, Homedale 1

(Eight innings)

The Royals opened the Columbia Wood Bat Tournament on Thursday at Columbia High School as they edged the Homedale Rivercats, 2-1, in eight innings. Adrian Martinez singled in Alex Burke with the winning run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mountain Home took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Alex Burke walked and came home on a double by Clay Anderson. Homedale tied the game with an unearned run in the fourth inning.

Adrian Martinez, who relieved Levi Abrahamson in the seventh inning, picked up the win. Abrahamson scattered five hits and struck out eight in his first start of the season. John Kennison had two hits, Zach Peterson and Jake Ryan and Edy Mesillas also had hits.

Royals 11, Seminoles 2

Mountain Home faced the Boise Seminoles on Friday morning at the Columbia Wood Bat Tournament and scored all the runs they needed in the first inning, jumping to a 6-0 lead on their way to an 11-2 win.

Jake Hennessey had two hits and drove in two runs for the Royals. Alex Rodriguez had a double and drove in two runs. Bailey Miller had a hit and RBI, and Clay Anderson, Adrian Martinez and Levi Abrahamson also had hits, Zach Peterson and John Kennison both had RBIs.

Zach Peterson pitched four solid innings to get the win, and Jake Hennessey closed the game out with three scoreless innings of relief.

"We executed well and took advantage when they made errors," Coach Hoffman said.

Meridian 8, Mountain Home 7

(Eight innings)

Mountain Home jumped out to an early lead but couldn't hold on to it as the Double AA Meridian Rangers edged the Royals, 8-7, Friday afternoon.

The Royals took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, and Meridian scored three times to force the extra innings.

Mountain Home regained the lead, scoring twice in the top of the eighth. But once again, they were unable to hold off the Rangers, who scored three runs in the bottom of the eight for the 8-7 win.

"We had the lead going into the bottom of the seventh and lost it, and regained the lead in the eighth but couldn't hold them off," Coach Hoffman said. "All the same, I don't think we're going to see a team as good as they are the rest of the season."

Jake Hennessey had a double and RBI, and Alex Burke and Adrian Martinez both had hits and RBI. Clay Anderson, Zach Peterson and Teddy Reaume also had hits while Levi Abrahamson added an RBI.

Jake Hennessey, the fourth of four Royal pitchers, suffered the loss.

Royals 7, Kuna 2

Mountain Home bounced back into the win column Saturday morning, downing the Kuna Diamondbacks, 7-2, at the N.N.U. field in Nampa.

Skylar Quintal pitched a complete game four-hitter, striking out seven batters. Jesse Cobos had four hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Zach Peterson had two hits and an RBI. Clay Anderson also had a hit and RBI. Alex Burke and John Kennison also had hits for the Royals, who were without Adrian Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Jake Hennessey, who played in the Top 40 Baseball Showcase Games.

"With those three players gone, we played our youngest lineup out there, and once we got on base, caused lots of problems for the Kuna pitcher, stealing bases and scoring runs," Coach Hoffman said.

Royals 9, Blacksmith 1

Mountain Home broke open a pitching duel by scoring seven runs in the sixth inning to down Blacksmith, 9-1, Saturday afternoon at N.N.U.

Levi Abrahamson scattered four hits and struck out five in five innings to get the win to improve to 2-0. Abrahamson helped his cause at the plate, getting two doubles, scoring two runs and knocking in one run. Jake Ryan had three hits, Jesse Cobos added two, Adrian Martinez had a triple and two RBIs, Jake Hennessey had a double and an RBI and John Kennison also had a hit.

"Their pitcher was good, and it took us a while to finally open our eyes and get some good hits and score some runs," Coach Hoffman said.

Meridian 3, Mountain Home 2

Mountain Home got their wish and got another crack at Meridian on Sunday when they played for the Wood Bat Tournament championship. But once again, they came up a run short to the Double A Rangers in a 2-3 loss.

"Once again, another one-run ball game," said Coach Hoffman. "There were a few crucial calls that switched the momentum of the game. Had they gone our way, I think the outcome would have been different, but our guys laid it all on the line against a tough Meridian Double A team."

Skylar Quintal, who came on in relief of John Kennison in the fifth, suffered the loss. Jake Hennessey had a double and RBI, and Jesse Cobos also had a hit and RBI. Alex Burke and Adrian Martinez also had hits for the Royals, who are now 8-2 on the season.

It's another busy week of baseball for the Royals this week. They hosted Emmett in a league doubleheader on Monday. They faced the Boise Seminoles for a league doubleheader at Fort Boise on Tuesday.

They open the Nampa Tourney on Thursday, June 14, against Skyline. At noon Friday, they take on Kuna and face Nevada at 2:30 p.m. Saturday has the Royals facing Nampa at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday will have games for places, with the fifth-place game at 9:30 a.m. and the fourth-place game at 12:30 p.m. both at Skyview. Rodeo Park will host the third place game at 9:30 a.m. and the second-place game at noon with the championship game starting at 2:30 p.m.