Tigers struggle at Buck's Bag tournament

The Mountain Home Tigers battled tough but came away with just one win at the Buck's Bag Spring Baseball Classic over the weekend.

Columbia 17

Tigers 11

The Tigers came up short in a slugfest with Columbia, losing to the Wildcats, 17-11 in their opener last Thursday at Centennial.

Columbia jumped on Tiger starter Eric Christiansen for seven runs in the first inning, but Mountain Home scored 11 runs in the third to take an 11-7 lead.

Columbia put up five runs in the fifth to take the lead, and added to that in the sixth and seventh to win, 17-11.

"We started the tournament a bit ugly on both sides it seemed like," said Tiger baseball coach Travis DeVore of the Columbia game. "Neither team played defense well.

"Eric Christiansen threw well for us. He got off to a little bit of a rough start, but then really came on focused, but unfortunately, the weather was bad and both teams were kind of down and both teams gave up big innings.

"It was a game we easily could have won, we were up by four runs at one point after coming back from a huge deficit, but fell short as the defense struggled, which was particularly upsetting after coming off some pretty good defensive games against Emmett and even Skyview the week before."

Cal Vivier led the Tigers at the plate with three hits including a double and two RBIs. Alex Hoffman had two doubles and two RBIs, and Ricky Lee had a double and RBI.

Brock Morris, who relieved Eric Christiansen in the fifth, took the loss. Gabe Anderson closed out the fifth and pitched the final two innings for the Tigers.

Centennial 12

Mtn. Home 11

Centennial scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to down the Tigers, 12-11, Friday afternoon at Centennial.

Mountain Home scored three runs in the top of the first, but the Patriots pushed across six in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-3 lead.

The Tigers scored two in both the second and third to go up, 7-6, but Centennial scored twice in the bottom of the third to regain the lead, 8-7.

Mountain Home tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the fourth, but the Patriots scored two in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead, 10-8.

Back came the Tigers in the top of the sixth with three runs, to go up, 11-10, a lead they took into Centennial's last at bat in the bottom of the seventh. The Patriots worked a couple walks off Jake Hiler, who replaced Tiger starter Chris Rau in the seventh, and then got a game-winning hit to score two runs and get the win, 12-11.

"Defensive woes really kept that game close," said Coach DeVore.

"That was a game we should have won, probably more along the lines of 10-4 or 10-5, but the defense let up and caused some bigger innings.

"Chris Rau pitched well for us, but ultimately we allowed Centennial to stick around. We carried the lead into the bottom of the seventh, but they were able to get a two-out single to get the game-wining run across.

"It was a tough loss, especially after both teams kind of struggled in the game, but certainly the kids are playing hard, but with all the elements and some ugly baseball we came up short."

Alex Hoffman had four hits, including two doubles, scored three runs and knocked in two runs. Cal Vivier, Chris Rau, Eric Christiansen and Ricky Lee all had hits and RBIs, Jake Hiler and Logan Monasterio also had hits, and Brock Morris had an RBI.

Chris Rau went six innings on the mound for the Tigers and gave up 11 runs, but just five of them earned. Jake Hiler, who came on in the seventh, suffered the loss.

Mtn. Home 8

Coeur d'Alene 3

The Tigers got a great pitching effort from Jordan Cisna Saturday morning as they downed Coeur d'Alene Vikings, 8-3.

Cisna scattered six hits and struck out nine in going the distance for the win for the Tigers.

Alex Hoffman continued his torrid hitting at the plate with three hits including another double and two RBIs. Brock Morris had four hits and two doubles and to RBIs. Chris Rau had a hit and RBI, Jake Hiler and Cal Vivier had hits, and Ricky Lee had an RBI.

"I was much more impressed with our focus and our approach against Coeur d'Alene," said Coach DeVore. "The guys came out swinging well, Brock Morris led the way.

"The defense solidified, and Jordan Cisna came back after going on a family trip and threw seven strong innings to pick up the win and strike out nine along the way.

"It was a big win for us and some kids stepped up huge for us after some struggles early on in the tournament."

Twin Falls 10

Mtn. Home 2

The Tigers final game of the Spring Classic was against Twin Falls, and the Bruins plated three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to break open a close game and win, 10-2.

"We played a good Twin Falls team and it was a game that was close throughout and the final score doesn't really do it justice," said Coach DeVore.

"Our kids were competing and gave up some runs late in the game. Ricky Baker came in and threw well in relief and was getting some ground balls (but) we just weren't taking care of the ball. They were 'seeing-eye singles.' The score looks like it was a bigger defeat than it actually was.

"The kids again were much more focused than they were earlier on in the tournament, so we made some steps forward, and we certainly don't feel like were playing as good as we're capable of, but we saw a lot of positive things at the same time. We're going to get better, but we have a long way to go still."

Jake Hiler had two hits and an RBI, Jordan Cisna had a hit and RBI. Alex Hoffman and John Murdorf also had hits for the Tigers.

Mountain Home took a 3-6 overall record into Tuesday's home doubleheader against Buhl. The Tigers return to conference action Thursday at Bishop Kelly against the Knights, and then come home to face the Knights on Friday at 5 p.m.