The Merchants paid tribute to CJ Smuin last week by hosting a four-day tournament in his honor. Helper certainly showed up in CJ’s memory by rolling through the tournament. The Merchants took care of American Leadership on Wednesday and then Alta on Thursday to start off the weekend of games with back-to-back victories.
Helper then made quick work of Stansbury on Friday by ten-running their opponent in five innings, 10-0. Jordan Fossat pitched the complete game shutout and did not allow any hits. He only committed one walk to go along with 11 strikeouts. In other words, Stansbury only put the ball in play four times through five innings. Fossat added a triple at the plate and led the team with three RBIs. Wyatt Falk and Kade Dimick each added a pair of RBIs in the contest.
On Championship Saturday, the Merchants matched up with Salem Hills. The winner-takes-all contest lived up to its billing as the game was tightly contested. Salem Hills struck first with a run in the second, but the Merchants had an answer. Helper scored a run of its own in the bottom of the second to knot it up once more. With the same score in the bottom of the fourth, the Merchants pushed across another run to take a 2-1 lead. Helper’s pitching continued to be a strength as the Merchants held on to win, 2-1.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
