ETV News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
It is certainly a sign of summer when the Helper Merchants hit the diamond to kickoff their season. Helper began its schedule over the weekend with four games in three days.
On Thursday, the Merchants visited Minico and immediately went to work. Derek Robison brought home two in the top of the first for the early lead. On the bump, Jordan Fossat was excellent and struck out 13 batters through six innings. He gave up only one hit and three walks in the 3-0 shutout. Rylan Hart then struck out the side in the seventh for the save. At the dish, Robison finished 2-3 with three RBIs while Peyton Molinar went 2-3 with two runs scored.
The Merchants then took part in a see-saw battle of a game against Jerome on Friday. Jerome scored first with one run in the third. Helper answered with two runs in the fourth only to give up three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. Trailing by four, the Merchants scored three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to force extra innings. Jerome did not falter, however, and plated two runs in the eighth. Helper tried to come back once more, but only scored one in the final frame to fall 8-7. Molinar went 2-4 with two ribbies while Chet Anderson went 3-5 with one RBI. Rylan Hart also went 2-4 with an RBI as Robison added to his total with a triple and another run batted in. In addition, Quade Henrie doubled in the contest.
Later on Friday, Helper played Thunder Ridge in a blowout. The Merchants struck for 12 runs off of 15 hits and never looked back. Anderson pitched the complete-game shutout and struck out 12 batters while only giving up one hit and one walk. Ridge Nelson finished 4-5 at the plate with a double, triple and two RBIs. Anderson also hit a double in a 2-4, two-RBI effort while Robison went 1-3 with a double and an RBI.
The Merchants continued their roll on Saturday with a nine-run second inning to break the game open against Burley. Helper would go on to win 13-3 over the team from Idaho. Nelson pitched all five innings to pick up the win. He gave up four hits and two earned runs in the effort. Robison hit a grand slam in this one and extended his RBI total to nine in four games. Anderson went 3-3 at the plate with two ribbies while Braxton Henrie went 1-2 with a double and two RBIs.