Quality at bats helped push the Helper Merchants to 6-0 in division play after earning a double-header sweep over Roosevelt Tuesday evening at Ernie Gardner Field in Helper.
Playing for the final time before the high school moratorium, the Merchants took advantage of several walks and errors from Roosevelt. Even though they were out hit in both games, Helper was well in control throughout the double-header.
“We didn’t hit the ball tremendously well, but we found ways to grind it out and get two wins,” said manager Dakota Cisneros. “Without a practice this week I was hoping we would show up and be fresh. Without the practice we struggled at times, but still did what was needed.”
Despite being held to just five hits, Helper managed to top Roosevelt 10-5 in the first game of the evening.
Chet Anderson logged multiple hits as he finished 2-3 with one RBI and a walk. Quade Henrie, Jakob Vasquez and Camden Wilson also brought in one run each. As a team Helper recorded 12 walks, which led to the double-digit run total.
Dallen O’Neil earned the win on the mound for Helper as he pitched three solid innings, allowing just four hits and three earned runs, while striking out four batters. Jordan Wright continued to gain moment from the bump as he pitched four innings, giving up three hits to go along with three strikeouts.
Game two of the double-header played out in similar fashion as Helper again struggled to hit the ball consistently. Still, the team managed to muster up enough offense with quality at bats and walk away with a 6-1 win.
Rylan Hart, Derek Robison, Wilson and Vasquez each brought in one run from the plate. As a team Helper gathered just three hits, falling shy of Roosevelts four.
The run support was more than enough for Jordan Fossat who tossed a gem in the win. Going 5.2 innings, Fossat fanned 11 batters, allowed just four hits and one earned run. Chet Anderson worked the final four outs in relief, striking out two batters to close out the contest.
The two wins keeps Helper’s unbeaten league record intact with only two games remaining on the schedule. On Thursday, July 7, they will travel to Vernal for one game at 8:00 p.m. The regular season will end on Friday, July 15 against St. George.
“Tuesday kind of puts us in the driver’s seat, sitting right where we need to be heading into the final two weeks,” said Cisneros. “We are feeling good about where we are at, we just have to stay focused over the last two games and get a couple of wins.”