By Brad Greer

There was no shortage of offense as the American Legion 13-15 year-old baseball league opened its regular season Monday night.

The first game of the night saw the Royals get past the A’s 7-4 while the Red Sox scored 14 unanswered runs to down the Yankees 14-8 in the nightcap.

The Royals broke open a scoreless game in the top of the third with three runs without the benefit of a hit as Hunter Cook, Justin Bolton and John Riles crossed the dish on a series of walks and wild pitches.

After the A’s scratched across a run in the bottom half of the frame, the Royals pushed across two runs in the fourth to increase their lead to 5-1.

Turner Rotenberry tripled then scored on a wild pitch to lead off the inning. Hammer Hankins later singled and scored on a two-out RBI single by Cameron Brown.

The Royals would then add single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to close out their scoring. The Yankees meanwhile added three runs on no hits in the bottom of the sixth to close the margin to 7-4 but could not get any closer.  

Rotenberry led the Royals at the plate with a triple and single while Hunter Darby added a double. Cole Rotenberry, Hankins and Pez Magee  pitched two innings  for the Royals.

The Yankees managed three hits in the game as Trey McGovern doubled while Braidon Scott and Ty Cambell each singled.

In the second game of the night, the Yankees jumped to a 8-0 lead after three innings before the Red Sox rallied for six runs in the fourth and eight in the sixth to cap the come-from-behind victory.

Gage Aldison’s two-run double in the fourth fueled the rally while Caleb Bryant added a RBI single. Robert Hentz also drove in a run with a sacifice fly.

Chase Durham’s two-run double in the sixth gave the Sox their first lead of the game. Aldison and Lake Dubois also drove in runs. Ridge Simmerman added a single and scored two in the victory.

The Yankees rapped out nine hits in the game as Mason Wilkinson and Zach Wolford led the way with two hits each. Jake Raymond and Dakota Owens added doubles while Hunter Williams tripled.
Wyatt Bailey, Tristen Tudor and Lance Lusk added singles in the loss.