Going crooked is the straightest way to getting a victory.
The Helias Crusaders hung crooked numbers on the scoreboard in three different innings Tuesday on their way to an 11-1 victory against the Moberly Spartans at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"If you can do that, you're giving yourself a great chance to win," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. "Straight numbers are fine, but teams can come back if you're only scoring once."
The game got off to a bit of a slow start, reminiscent of recent Helias home contests. Helias led 2-1 after two innings, but had already stranded five baserunners.
"It looked a lot like our first three home games, just kind of getting through the first few innings," Wyrick said. "But we woke up."
Helias hung the first of the crooked numbers in the third inning, scoring three times. Dylan Gaines and Chase Bexten drew consecutive walks to start the inning, then scored when Will Blankenship followed with a double to left-center.
Blankenship later came around to score on a single by Ryan Bounds.
It was the second of three hits in the game for Bounds, Helias' No. 9 hitter.
"He put the ball in play with two strikes, he did not get caught looking," Wyrick said. "He gave himself a chance at the plate by being aggressive, not being passive."
Helias batted around and scored four times in the fourth to make it 9-1. Bounds drove in two runs with a double down the line in right, while Bexten had an RBI double and Nolan Sachse a sacrifice fly to plate the final run of the inning.
The Crusaders ended the game by run-rule with two runs in the sixth. Bounds reached on an error with one out and moved to second on a groundout. Sachse then singled to make it 10-1 before Alex Faddoul tripled to left-center to drive in Sachse with the game-ender.
Helias finished with nine hits, five of which went for extra bases.
"We attacked the ball, we weren't just swinging hoping to make contact to put the ball in play," Wyrick said. "We had good bat speed when we were seeing strikes."
Alex Barton scored Helias' run in the first inning. He opened the inning with a double and later came home on a wild pitch. Barton drove in Blankenship with a groundout in the second.
Clayton Winter went the distance to get the win for the Crusaders. He allowed five hits and one walk while striking out four.
"He did enough to keep us in the game, he did enough to get them out," Wyrick said.
Winter also hit two batters, the second of which bounced off the helmet of a Moberly player and over the top of the backstop behind home plate.
Helias (6-3) is scheduled to host Jefferson City at 5 p.m. Friday. Wyrick said with a good chance of rain Friday, the game may be moved up to Thursday.
In Tuesday's JV game, Helias scored five runs in the first and nine more in the second on its way to a 14-0 victory in 21/2 innings.
Ryan Graessle drove in three runs for Helias (7-2), while Zach Stiles, Drew Boessen, Ryan Gartner and Nick Carr all drove in two. Matt Dampf had two hits and scored three runs.
Helias did not allow a hit in the game. Kale Gerstner pitched the first two innings, walking one and striking out four. Tyler Cassmeyer struck out three and walked one in his one inning of work.