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The Helper Merchants responded to its first loss of the season with a dominating 8-2 division win over Payson Wednesday evening at home.

Returning to the field just two days after falling to Springville, the Helper offense was outstanding early as they developed an 8-0 lead entering the fifth inning. The Merchant’s defense kept the Payson offense searching for answers as several scoring opportunities were left stranded.

“It was a good overall game and we put a lot of runners on base,” said manager Dakota Cisneros. “We had good quality at bats. Early we did a good enough job to get our guys around to put some runs up.”

Jordan Fossat pushed the pace of the game in the batter’s box as he finished with a single, double and three RBIs. Jacob Vasquez laced two singles as he recorded one RBI, while Ridge Nielson finished with one double, two singles and one RBI.

Fossat also recorded the win on the mound as he completed 3.2 innings from the starting spot. Despite walking eight batters in the game, he allowed just one hit and struck out three.

“It was a quality outing from Jordan as he gave up just one hit, but he did walk eight guys,” said Cisneros. “It was a tough game, but our guys on defense did a great job behind Jordan as they pulled two or three double plays. I can’t ask for much more from the guys than what they are giving me right now.”

Wednesday’s win moves Helper to 11-1 on the season and more importantly 3-1 in league play.

The Merchants were scheduled to return to the field on Friday for a league tilt with Highland. That game however has been postponed and a new date will be announced shortly.

Friday’s postponement gives Helper the remainder of the weekend off. The team will resume play on Monday with a road trip to meet American Leadership Academy.