GILLETTE, Wyo. - A terrific season for the Billings Royals drew to a close Thursday after suffering a 4-2 loss at the hands of Eugene, Oregon, at the American Legion Baseball Northwest Regional in Gillette, Wyoming.
Eugene jumped on top early for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Royals (53-14) equalized to tie it with two runs in the third, but Eugene (48-13) regained the lead in the bottom half and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning.
Reagan Walker went the distance for Billings giving up four earned runs on six hits in six innings.
On Wednesday, Yakima Valley starter and winner Caden Herbst yielded two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings and Derek Wolff and Adam Goodrich had two hits apiece for Washington in an 8-5 win over the Royals.
The Helena Senators stayed alive Thursday in bracket play with a convincing 13-0 shutout to eliminate Alaska. Hunter Bratcher earned the win for Helena which improves to 52-20. The Senators play another loser-out contest Friday at 10:30 a.m. against Thursday's winner between Yakima Valley and Cheyenne.
In Wednesday's opener, Helena fell to defending American Legion World Series champion Idaho Falls 4-1.
Idaho Falls trailed 1-0 after 4 1/2 innings before rallying for the win. R.J. Woods delivered three hits and reliever Dayton Robinson went 3 1/3 innings yielding one unearned run for the win.
Please click here for the full 2021 bracket with live scoring and box scores.
