The Helper Merchants will continue their quest for the Utah State American Legion Championship when tournament play resumes Friday afternoon in Pleasant Grove.

Featuring 35 teams from throughout the state, the opening round took place Monday as teams were seeded for a best of three series with their opponents. Helper, who entered as the No. 14 seed, earned a clean sweep of No. 19 Mountain View.

“I think we were definitely locked in,” said manager Dakota Cisneros when talking about Monday’s win. “The mindset is definitely there and I think my team is ready to go. I liked what I saw as far as the approach to the game and I hope we can carry that over to Friday.”

With only 16 teams remaining, the tournament will switch to a true double-elimination format for the final week.

Up first for Helper will be a meeting with No. 4 Herriman Friday at 12:30 p.m.. The two teams have history with one another, as Herriman eliminated the Merchants from championship contention last season.

“This is not your traditional four-versus-thirteen matchup,” said Cisneros. “I’m excited to play Herriman game one. I hope we get a little revenge and take this game from them. I think it’ll be a good, competitive game.”

A win for Helper would keep them in the winners bracket for a game against either Stansbury or Pleasant Grove on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.. A loss would mean an elimination against one of those same teams Saturday at 12:30 at Juan Diego.

The tournament will continue throughout next week, with the champion being decided on Thursday, July 23.

Click below to view the complete bracket for the tournament:
Utah-American-Legion-State-Tournament-Bracket