The 19U Helper American Legion baseball team played four games over the weekend under new coach Dakota Cisneros. Long-time skipper Jeff Cisneros stepped down before the summer season, which allowed his son, Dakota, to fill the role.
Blackfoot was the first opponent over the weekend, which Helper managed easily by a score of 9-0. Cody Lowe had an excellent day from the mound, pitching a one-hit shoutout while striking out seven. “[Cody] threw great, lost the no hitter in the sixth [inning]. He also hit a home run,” said Dakota. Zac Bradley led the team at the plate going 3-4 with three doubles, two runs scored and one RBI. Anthony Jones added a pair of singles going 2-3 and “caught an awesome game” from behind the plate, according to Dakota
Bradley followed up Lowe’s performance with a gem of his own. He also pitched a one-hit shutout with five strikeouts. Dakota appreciated Bradley’s effort. “[Minico was] the best team we faced. [Zac] was locked in on the mound and I had complete confidence in him the whole game.” Helper went on to win 3-0 as “Tyler Wright came up big in the fifth inning of a scoreless game with a double that scored two.” Ty Anderson went 2-4 with two singles and a run.
The third game of the weekend did not go as well for Helper. It lost a close one, 5-4, to Burley. JP Powell led the team with two RBIs while Rylan Hart went 2-4. Nathan Richens came into pitch in the second inning and ended the game with six strikeouts and gave up two runs on three hits. “We had a let down with effort and energy,” Dakota said. “Should have won easily.”
Helper bounced back in its fourth and final game with a 9-4 victory over Jerome. Kaleb Nelson took the mound in the weekend finale and had six strikeouts while allowing seven hits. Anderson went 2-3 with three runs scored, a double, walk and stolen base. “Rylan swung the bat really well,” said Dakota. “He went 3-4 with three singles, two runs scored and a stolen base.” Lowe hit a triple and drove in a run while scoring twice in the contest. Bradley also had a triple but added three RBIs while Nelson and Jones each added an RBI of their own. Helper hit the ball all over the field to record 11 hits as a team.
Dakota concluded, “Overall, I was very happy with our effort. We did a lot of things very well. We made great plays behind our pitchers and played hard all weekend except against Burley.”