ETV News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
Payson and Helper came together on Monday as the American Legion Baseball schedule continues. Beau Vea got the nod on the bump and pitched an excellent game for the Merchants. He completed the game and struck out five batters, while only giving up five hits and two runs, one unearned.
“We played awesome defense behind [Vea]. Beau kept Payson hitters off balance all game long. He started ahead in counts and threw his pitches,” said head coach Dakota Cisneros. “He got our defense many ground ball outs and lots of easy fly outs. Jacob Vasquez caught the entire game and called a great game from the dish.”
The bats came alive to support the strong effort from Vea. Rylan Hart went 3-4 with a walk and two RBIs while Dallen O’Neil led the team with his three RBI effort. In addition, Jordan Fossat brought home two runs, Vea scored after his double and Brayton Nielsen finished 2-4 with a ribbie as the Merchants went on to win 9-2.
“This was a game that we showed up and played focused from start to finish. I was very proud of our effort at the plate and in the field.” Cisneros concluded, “This team is capable of wins like this when they have the energy and focus that we displayed during this game.”