The last time Tyler Cassmeyer went to the mound, the Helias senior went six innings in what turned out to be a no-hitter for the Crusaders.
Though it wasn't a no-hitter Tuesday, Cassmeyer may have been more dominant as the Crusaders rolled to a 13-0 win in five innings against the Moberly Spartans at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"I thought my stuff was pretty good today, I had a lot more movement on the ball," Cassmeyer said. "I've been working on my curveball lately and it was really working. I really got it together.
"In the no-hitter, I was hitting a lot more corners than I was today. In this game, I was using the entire plate."
Cassmeyer finished with a two-hitter Tuesday and did not allow a walk while striking out eight.
"The keys were getting the first pitch for a strike and throwing the curveball for a strike," he said.
The curveball was especially strong.
"He threw more curveballs for strikes today than he has in the past couple of games," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said.
Cassmeyer had to come out of the no-hitter in the top of the seventh inning due to the pitch-count rule. After that game, Wyrick was looking for Cassmeyer to be more economical with his pitches.
On Tuesday, Cassmeyer needed just 68 pitches in the five innings.
"He was a lot more efficient than he was in the no-hitter," Wyrick said. "He was using all of his pitches well.
"This is something he can build off of the rest of the season."
The Helias offense gave Cassmeyer all the support he would need by scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first.
The first six Crusaders reached in the inning as Helias scored its runs on three hits, four walks and a pair of Moberly errors.
"They helped us out, but we hit some balls hard and ran the bases well," Wyrick said.
Parker Schnieders had a two-run double to make the score 4-0. Trevor Austin had two hits in the inning for Helias, including a two-run triple to cap the scoring.
The Crusaders got their other five runs in the third. Schnieders had another two-run double to key the inning.
"We need that out of Parker," Wyrick said. "I think he tries to do too much sometimes, swinging for doubles and triples instead of just letting his ability get those hits.
"He's done the extra work before and after practice and it's great to see him get rewarded for that."
In the third, courtesy runner Brandon Ferguson stole three bases.
Schnieders and Austin finished with two hits each in an eight-hit Helias attack. Zach Stiles scored three times, while Alex Buschjost and Nick Brandt both had two runs. Buschjost also totaled two RBI.
The Crusaders were coming off taking the title Saturday in the Capital City Invitational and Wyrick was afraid the focus might not be fully on the Spartans.
"I was, but Tyler set the tone in the very first inning by going after hitters," Wyrick said. "When you have a pitcher do that, that really shows his teammates on offense and defense that we need to match that intensity."
Moberly is now 2-5.
The Crusaders (5-4) are not home again until April 25 when they host Blair Oaks.
Helias will start a five-game road swing today with a game at St. Dominic.
"It will be a chance to see how we will respond to the challenge of playing a really good team at their place," Wyrick said.