Helias scores four runs in 10th to win district baseball title

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - Fair or foul? In the end, it didn't really matter.

The Helias Crusaders captured their first district baseball title since 2012 on Thursday, defeating the Bolivar Liberators 5-1 in the Class 4 District 10 Tournament title contest at School of the Osage.

"These guys fought and fought," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. "We play a difficult schedule for a reason and it's for games exactly like this. We were a tough team today and that's why we won."

With the win, Helias (20-8) will host District 9 champion Salem (14-11) in the sectional Tuesday at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex. The start time has not been announced.

"I'm excited for these guys, for these guys to get to host a playoff game is special," Wyrick said.

The game was scoreless for eight innings before each team scored a run in the ninth. Helias got its run when Ryan Graessle singled home Nolan Sachse. Bolivar answered with an RBI single from Camden Burns.

On both plays, the team that scored had a runner thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning.

Parker Schnieders led off the top of the 10th with a single for Helias. Landon Harrison then beat out a bunt for a hit to put runners at first and second.

A sacrifice bunt by Zach Stiles moved the runners up to second and third before a walk by Matthew Dampf loaded the bases. Wyrick then brought in Alex Werner to run for Schnieders at third and on an 0-1 pitch, Nick Carr lofted a fly to left. Werner beat the throw to the plate and Helias led 2-1.

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Conway House Fire, April 30, 2017

Officials respond to a house fire in Conway after a weekend storm flooded the residential street in front of the home. Video shot by Elvis Opris.

Test

This is when fair or foul came into play. Sachse, who earlier sent the Bolivar leftfielder to the warning track with a long fly out, belted a 1-1 pitch down the line in left, straddling the foul pole. The ball cleared the fence and the home plate umpire ruled it a home run.

"I was praying it would stay fair," Sachse said.

The first nine innings of the tight contest had been an emotional roller coaster for both teams. When it was ruled a home run to give Helias a 5-1 lead, those emotions bubbled over as nearly every Bolivar player on the field ran toward the umpire to dispute the call, saying the ball was foul.

After a couple of minutes of discussion, the players returned to their positions. But before the next pitch was thrown, a Bolivar player was ejected. And after the final out, a Bolivar player ran off the bench toward the home plate umpire, screaming at him as he walked off the field.

"He called it fair, I thought it was so high, maybe it snuck around the pole," said Wyrick, who had his own problems with the same umpire earlier in the game on a fair-foul call that resulted in an eighth-inning double play. "But in the end, they didn't get any runs in the bottom of the inning, so we would have won anyway."

In the bottom of the 10th, Helias reliever Tyler Cassmeyer retired the first two Bolivar batters on two pitches before getting a strikeout to set off a Crusader celebration near the mound.

"It was a team victory, we fought for this one," Sachse said.

Helias starter Clayton Winter and his Bolivar counterpart, Connor Sechler, allowed mulitple baserunners throughout the early innings. But no runs.

"It looked like it was going to be the first team to get a run was going to win it," Wyrick said.

Both teams had at least one baserunner in each of the first three innings. combining to strand seven, including five in scoring position.

After a 1-2-3 fourth inning for both teams, the parade of baserunners resumed. Helias and Bolivar stranded a whopping 14 runners in innings 5-8. Nine of those were in scoring position, but again, no runs.

"I think Clayton likes it when guys get on," Wyrick said. "He gets tough and makes good pitches."

Helias made a handful of good defensive plays behind Winter and Cassmeyer. The Crusaders threw two Liberators out the plate and another at third.

"We do a lot of relays and pickoffs in practice, I want these guys to be able to do them in their sleep," Wyrick said. "The fundamentals are important."

Cassmeyer also picked off a runner at second in the eighth.

"We were outstanding as a team on defense, I don't know if we've ever played that well," Sachse said

While he got the game-winning RBI on his sacrifice fly in the 10th, Carr's play at catcher was more important. With the Crusaders concentrating on keeping pitches low in the zone, more than a few bounced around the plate and Carr was there to block all of them to keep Bolivar runners from moving up a base.

"He got to every ball in the dirt, you just don't see that," Wyrick said. "He kept everything in front of him. His real value today and the reason we won the game was because he played so well defensively."

Winter pitched the first 72/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out six. Cassmeyer, who got out of a bases-loaded with two-out jam in the eighth with a fly out, pitched 21/3 innings. He allowed five hits and a walk while recording two strikeouts.

Sachler, a junior who has committed to Missouri State, pitched nine innings for Bolivar. He allowed nine hits and five walks while striking out three. Jackson Abdon pitched the 10th for the Liberators, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk.

"Everything is not always going to work out for you, I'm proud of the way these guys stuck with it," Wyrick said. "We played for each other, we played as a team and that's why we won.

"That's a heck of a team we beat. We feel very fortunate to win this game. Survive and advance and we're moving on."

Helias has seven straight games and 11 of its last 12. Bolivar, ranked No. 6 in the state, ends at 22-4.