Helias baseball slips past Fatima, 1-0

Fatima baserunner Steven Brandt and Helias third baseman Josiah Imhoff watch a pitch to the plate during the bottom of the fifth inning of Tuesday's game in Westphalia.
Fatima baserunner Steven Brandt and Helias third baseman Josiah Imhoff watch a pitch to the plate during the bottom of the fifth inning of Tuesday's game in Westphalia.

WESTPHALIA - It was exactly the score you would expect from a game matching up the state's top-ranked teams in Class 3 and Class 4.

The way it got there, not so much.

The Helias Crusaders, the Class 4 part of the equation, scratched out a 1-0 win against the Fatima Comets on Tuesday in a game that saw each team strand 12 runners on base. Add in some baserunning and mental lapses, and it made for a never-dull, 21/2-hour game at the Westphalia Lions Field.

Helias got the game's only run in the third inning despite putting at least one runner in scoring position in every inning.

"The mistakes are still there, but you can live with them when you win," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. "They always say it's better to learn and win than learn and lose.

"Both teams squandered a lot of opportunities, but both teams stepped up defensively and pitched well when they were put in those pressure situations."

In the cozy confines of the park, the lone run was perhaps the most surprising stat of the day.

"I shook hands with Chris after the game and he was like, "One run - really? In this yard?' And I said, "Go figure,'" Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said.

The lone run came when Nolan Sachse hit a one-out single, stole second and later scored on a single by Matthew Dampf.

In a game where there the teams combined for just a single 1-2-3 inning, it seemed inevitable the runs would eventually start coming. But Helias left the bases loaded once and Fatima did it three times, while the key hits never came on a day where the teams combined for eight hits.

"I hate to say it, but I am pleased with that outing," Kilgore said. "Yes, we did leave runners on, but that's going to happen in this game. We put the ball in play hard and they made some nice plays. We were pressuring in the majority of the innings and we'll take that."

There were just two extra-base hits in the game - doubles for Helias' Alex Faddoul and Fatima's Josh Holtschneider.

"If you would have told me that down here, it would be 1-0, I would never have believed you," Wyrick said. "I think the wind had something to do with it. It kept a few balls from going that would have maybe carried to the fence or made some other plays more difficult."

In addition to the wind, blowing in steadily all game long, the defense kept the offense from rising up.

Helias got a particularly nice play from right fielder Alex Werner with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, as he made a long run to haul in a fly ball that could have turned the tide.

"That's why Alex is out there," Wyrick said. "He's quick, he's athletic, he's got a huge heart, so I don't hesitate putting him out there in those situations. That was a crucial catch. That could have made it go from up 1-0 to down 2-1 and all the pressure is back on us from an offensive standpoint."

Then with the tying run at third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Faddoul made a nice stop at shortstop and threw out the runner to secure the victory.

"That last play was a tough play in the 6 hole and Alex stuck with it," Wyrick said. "... I think we can be a special defensive team if we just keep our fundamentals sound."

The Comets had a stellar, and unusual, play when they were on defense in the top of the fifth. Helias had runners at first and third with two outs when Fatima relief pitcher Will Robertson caught a runner stealing all by himself. When the Crusaders' pinch-runner at first took off on a called strike and got hung up between first and second, Robertson took the return throw from the catcher and chased the runner down for the final out while not allowing the lead runner to stray off third.

"That happened a couple times in this game where we did the right thing defensively and it worked out for us," Kilgore said.

Clayton Winter got the win for Helias, pitching the first five innings and allowing just one hit while walking four and striking out seven. Tyler Cassmeyer got the save, allowing one hit in the final two frames while walking one and striking out three.

Brady Weavers took the loss for Fatima, working three-plus innings and allowing one earned run on two hits. He walked six and struck out four.

Robertston did not allow a hit while walking three and striking out one in two innings, while Tony Swarthout scattered three hits across two innings while walking two and striking out one.

Helias (1-0) will play today at Boonville.

"We have to go to Boonville against a very, very good Boonville team, and they're always tough to play up there at their place," Wyrick said. "We're going to try to build off this and go up there and give it a whirl."

Fatima (2-2) is off until Tuesday when it plays at New Bloomfield.

"Again, this is hard to stomach, but I'm pleased," Kilgore said. "From a coaching perspective, this tells me a lot about the resilience and the competitiveness and scrappiness of this team."

On Monday, Fatima beat Hallsville 11-1 in five innings at home.

The Comets posted seven runs in the first inning, three in the second and one in the fifth.

Robertson paced Fatima with three hits, three runs and a walk. Jonathon Backes had two hits, two RBI and two runs. Hunter Hennier had two hits and scored twice, walking once. Tyler Wolfe drove in two, and Swarthout had two hits, a run and an RBI in the leadoff spot.

Backes pitched four innings for Fatima, striking out 11, walking two and allowing one hit and one unearned run. Logan Bexten pitched the final inning, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out one.

In Tuesday's JV game, Helias defeated Fatima 7-1.

Austin Fennewald and Dylan Wood had two hits each for the Crusaders, while Jacob Hartman picked up the win on the mound.