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By Jose Briseno, Castle Country Radio:

The Helper Merchants opened the American Legion state tournament against the No. 8 seed, Bear River on Saturday, Jul. 23 at Ridgeline High School.

Helper started the game on the right track after a four-run first inning behind four straight base hits by Rylan Hart, Jordan Fossat, Derek Robison, and Ridge Nelson. Robison and Fossat each had a double while Hart and Nelson had singles to give Helper the early 4-0 lead.

Scoring quieted down for a few innings before Helper added an RBI sacrifice fly by Robison to give the Merchants a 5-0 lead.

Bear River tried to start a rally in the top of the fifth, and managed a two-run double before stranding three runners on base. Helper quickly answered in the bottom half of the fifth with four more runs of their own to commandingly lead 9-2. Rylan Hart hit an RBI-single with bases loaded to score Jakob Vasquez. Camden Wilson hit a single up the middle to score Braxtin Henrie. Chet Anderson would score on the same play due to an error by Bear River. Rylan Hart would score the ninth and final run for Helper on a throwing error by the Bear River third baseman.

Bear River would score three runs in the top of the seventh, but Ridge Nelson would shut the door on Bear River and advance the Merchants to play Stansbury in the next round of the state tournament.

Last night, the Merchants returned to the field once again to face No. 5 ranked Stansbury.

Stansbury started the game with a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Helper responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Jordan Fossat singled to center to score Chet Anderson from third. Rylan Hart would then score on a throwing error by the Stansbury catcher. Jakob Vasquez drove in the third run of the inning on a single to right.

Stansbury would once again add a run in the top of the second, but Helper would score two more in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead to 5-2. Robison would add two RBIs of his own with a two-run single to left field that scored Braxtin Henrie and Chet Anderson.

Quade Henrie drove in Ridge Nelson in the bottom of the fifth on a fielder’s choice to push the Merchants’ lead to four runs, 6-2.

Stansbury added three runs in the top of the sixth thanks to two base hits, two walks and a Helper error. Stansbury cut the lead to one run, 6-5, before scoring two more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-6 lead in the last frame.

In the bottom of the seventh, Helper put together a rally to load the bases with one out. Chet Anderson drew a five-pitch walk to score the game-tying run. Stansbury would record the second out of the inning after throwing out the game-winning run at the plate. Jordan Fossat stepped into the box and worked the count full before watching a controversial ball four to score the game-winning run as Helper advanced to the semi-finals on a 8-7 walk-off walk.

Helper will play again this afternoon against Mountain Crest for a spot in the state championship.

“We’re right in the position that we want to be in,” said Helper manager Dakota Cisneros. “We have Jordan [Fossat] on the mound against the best team left that’s unbeaten. If we can get a win, we’ll get a day off on Wednesday. So, I’m happy with where we are.”

Helper and Mountain Crest will face off at Mountain Crest High School at 4:00 pm.

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