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Royals honor former coach as season continues
The Mountain Home American Legion Post 26 honored the late Chester A. "Soapy" Walborn before the start of last Monday's Mountain Home Royals American Legion baseball game.
The Legion honored Walborn, who coached the Mountain Home Royals from 1987 to 2004, by retiring his uniform. His son, Jack Walborn, and Jack's children, John, Nicholas and Leah, participated in the ceremony with the youngsters throwing out the ceremonial first pitches of the game.
A planned flyover of the Cessna 0-1 "Soapy" plane from the Warhawk Museum in Nampa was scrubbed due to weather concerns.
Royals 10, Columbia 0
(6 innings)
After the pre-game festivities, the Royals used the enthusiasm of the large crowd to help them run to a 10-0 six-inning win over the Columbia Mudcats.
Mountain Home scored twice in both the first and second innings, and added four in the third, a single run in the fourth and ended the game by the 10-run rule with a run in the sixth.
"That's what it looks like when we put it together, and I honestly think there's more," said Royals coach Michael Hobgood. "We really just took apart a team -- and that's not a bad club either."
Levi Abrahamson struck out 13 batters and gave up just two hits. He also had a hit and scored two runs.
Teddy Reaume and Kody Arellano both had two hits. Reaume had a double. Arellano had a triple and drove in four runs. Zach Petersen had an RBI-double, and Shae Sterling and Jesse Cobos both had RBI-singles.
Mountain Home 8, 8
T. F. Blackhawks 7, 7
The Royals hit the road to Twin on Tuesday where they took a couple 8-7 eight-inning wins over the Blackhawks at the Canyon Ridge High School field.
Mountain Home jumped out to a 3-1 lead after one and led 5-1 and 6-2 before a five-run fifth put the Blackhawks up 7-6. The Royals tied the game in the seventh, and Cody Blakemore's RBI-double in the eighth gave the Royals the winning run.
Cody Blakemore had two hits in the game, including the run-scoring double. Zach Petersen, Jesse Cobos and Levi Abrahamson had hits and RBIs. Both also scored two runs each. Teddy Reaume and Bailey Miller-Hodge also had hits and Shae Sterling also scored two runs.
Tyler McCall pitched into the fifth inning. Jesse Cobos came in and shot down the Blackhawks the rest of the way, striking out six batters.
The second game was much like the first, as the Royals jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after an inning, but another five-run fifth inning for the Blackhawks gave them a 7-6 lead. The Royals tied it in the seventh to force extra innings and again won it, 8-7, in the eighth inning.
Esmer Castillo had two hits and drove in a run. Shae Sterling had a hit and two RBIs.
Josh Sheffield and Zach Petersen both had RBI-doubles. Derek Kellogg had an RBI-single and Cody Blakemore also had a hit.
The Royals used four pitchers, with Jesse Cobos pitching the final two scoreless and hitless innings, striking out five batters to get the win.
"I love the fact that we trailed late in both those games and battled offensively and defensively and won them both in extra innings," Coach Hobgood said. "The kids all decided they weren't going to lose, and they got the job done."
Royals 11, Eagle Thunder 7
The Royals, quickly becoming known as "The Comeback Kids," did it again Thursday night in the opening round of the Mudcat Classic.
After spotting the Eagle Thunder five runs in the first inning, Mountain Home fought back to tie the game at 5-5 in the third and 7-7 in the fifth, then erupted for four runs in the sixth to down the Thunder 11-7.
"We got away with one tonight," said Coach Hobgood after the game. "We struggled throwing strikes and getting our bats going, but got it together and figured out how to get it done and walk away with a win and still give ourselves a chance at a tourney title. I really like how we can come back and get wins though."
Jesse Cobos and Kody Arellano both had two hits and scored two runs. Cobos had two doubles. Teddy Reaume had a double and RBI, Levi Abrahamson Tyler McCall and Shae Sterling also had hits. Sterling drove in three runs.
Cody Blakemore drove in a run and Curran Price scored three runs.
Levi Abrahamson, the second of three Royals pitchers, threw two scoreless and hitless innings, striking out five to get the win. Mountain Home pitchers struck out 13 Thunder batters, as starting pitcher Kody Arellano fanned five in three innings, and Zach Peterson struck out the side in the sixth inning.
Royals 5, Cobras 4
The Royal made it six straight wins, holding off the Nampa Christian Cobras 5-4 in the first game of the day on Friday.
Mountain Home struck for three runs in the top of the third inning and made it 4-0 in the fifth before the Cobras pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Royals added a run in the top half of the sixth inning and withstood a Cobra sixth that produced two runs to make it 5-4.
The game ended after six innings due to the time-limit rule.
Teddy Reaume had two hits for the Tigers. Levi Abrahamson had an RBI-double and Jesse Cobos, Cody Blakemore and Tyler McCall each had RBI-singles. Josh Sheffield also had a hit.
Zach Petersen pitched three innings of one-hit ball, striking out four. Jesse Cobos relieved Petersen in the fourth and Levi Abrahamson picked up the save, coming in to get the final two outs in the sixth inning.
Trappers Red 3, Royals 1
The Royals were not quite able to pull it off Friday afternoon against Trappers Red, losing to the Utah team, 3-1, in the Mudcat Classic at Columbia High School in Nampa.
The Trappers Red team scored a run in the second inning, and two more in the fourth, and it proved to be enough against Mountain Home, who managed just a fifth inning run. The Royals left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, but could not score.
Just three Mountain Home batters had hits, as Teddy Reaume and Shae Sterling both had two hits, Sterling knocking in the Royals only run. Jesse Cobos had the only other hit.
Levi Abrahamson suffered the loss, despite just giving up five hits while striking out nine. He walked two and hit three batters.
"We just couldn't get our bats going," said Coach Hobgood. "Levi threw a great game, and we let him down."
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Royals, who now stand at 6-2 on the season.
Royals 6, Trappers Red 5
A five-run sixth inning turned a 5-1 deficit into a 6-5 victory for the Mountain Home Royals, as they evened their record against the Trappers Red team from Utah Saturday night in the Mudcat Classic Tournament at Columbia.
Trappers Red took advantage of three Jesse Cobos walks in the first inning to score three ties and take a 3-0 lead.
Mountain Home plated a run in the top of the second to make it a 3-1 ball game.
The Utah team was able to extend its lead in the fifth, taking advantage of three Jesse Cobos walks, a single and a wild pitch to score two runs to make it 5-1.
The Royals put together four hits, an error, a walk and a hit batter to score five times in the top of the sixth to take the lead, 6-5.
"We started off slow, and (Jesse) Cobos struggled finding the zone," said Coach Hobgood. "Finally, in the sixth, we broke through."
Despite eight walks, Jesse Cobos went the distance for Mountain Home, giving up just three hits while striking out 10 batters.
Bailey Miller-Hodge drove in two runs in the sixth that proved to be the game winner with his triple. It came after Josh Sheffield had delivered a pinch-hit RBI-double.
Tyler McCall also had an RBI-double, Teddy Reaume had a double, Levi Abrahamson had an RBI-single, and Kody Arellano and Jesse Cobos also had hits.
Trappers Blue 8, Royals 0
The Royals faced the Trappers Blue team from Blacksmith Fork, Utah, Sunday afternoon for the Mudcat Classic championship but could not work any of their magic, losing 8-0.
Seven Mountain Home errors helped the Utah team score seven unearned runs and a six-run fifth inning put the game out of reach as the Royals bats managed just one hit -- that a single by Bailey Miller-Hodge leading off the third inning -- though they did have base runners in every inning but the first.
Coach Hobgood agreed that errors were huge for his Royals in the championship game.
Tyler McCall suffered the loss, despite giving up just six hits, but seven of the Trapper Blue eight runs were unearned.
The loss dropped Mountain Home to 7-3 on the season. They have another busy week this week. They traveled to Jerome for a doubleheader on Monday. They host the Buhl Tribe for two today (Wednesday) starting at 5 p.m. On Friday they host Lewiston in a single game at 8 p.m.