WESTPHALIA, Mo. - The new pitch-count rules weren't going to slow down Fatima's Skyler Dickneite.
The Comets' senior left-hander needed just 91 pitches Tuesday to toss a complete-game three-hitter to beat the Helias Crusaders 3-0.
"He was a little shaky in the first inning, but he settled in nicely," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "In high school, a lot of times your first inning is your tough one.
"That was the first time he's gotten a chance to pitch this year. He worked through that and then he settled in very nicely."
MSHSAA's new pitch-count restrictions only allow Dickneite to throw a maximum of 105 pitches in a game. He didn't come close to that limit and was at 60 pitches through five innings.
Kilgore said Dickneite had great command of his off-speed pitches and spotted his fastball well.
"He's got outstanding stuff," Kilgore said. "He kept them off-balanced."
Helias, playing in its first game of the season, never had a runner advance past second base and only had a runner in scoring position on two occasions.
"We had three quality at-bats the entire night," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. " We weren't as aggressive, we took a lot of strikes. We didn't give ourselves a chance, especially with runners on base."
Fatima scored all three runs on well-placed RBI doubles.
Tyler Wolfe ripped his RBI double inches inside the first-base foul line to give the Comets a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
Steven Brandt's RBI double was just out of the reach of Helias' Cole Fennewald in the right-field corner in the third, while Drew Bax pulled his RBI double into the left-field corner in the fifth to extend Fatima's lead to 3-0.
The one drawback for the Comets was they left a runner stranded on third base in the second through fifth innings, as well as losing a baserunner in the second inning between third and home during a botched squeeze-play attempt. Fatima left eight runners on base.
"In the huddle (after a game), I always start with something negative first, regardless of the outcome of the game," Kilgore said. "If you're going to want to win big games, you're not going to be able to do that later on."
Dickneite got out of a few jams. In the first inning, Josef Keilholz robbed Zach Stiles of a base hit on the first at-bat of the game on a line drive up the middle. The Comets then ended the frame with a double-play ball.
Helias threatened again in the fourth with back-to-back singles by Parker Schnieders and Matthew Dampf, but Dickneite escaped with a strikeout and a foul pop-up to get out of the inning.
"We expanded the zone and swung at pitches we shouldn't have swung at, balls that were up there and weren't strikes," Wyrick said. "We hit a few balls hard early and then we got a little frustrated and discouraged."
Dickneite walked three batters and struck out seven.
Helias starting pitcher Tyler Cassmeyer took the loss. In five innings, he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
Drew Boessen pitched the sixth, needing just four pitches to retire the Comets in order on three groundouts to Trevor Austin at shortstop.
Austin Fennewald had Helias' other hit, a two-out single in the second.
Bax and Wolfe led Fatima at the plate, each collecting a single, a double and one RBI. Jacob Crede and Gage Bax each had one single.
Helias (0-1) will have to wait for another chance to get its first win until next Monday, when the Crusaders play at Battle.
"If you do things the right way, the game rewards you, and if you don't do things the right way, the game will let you know," Wyrick said. "It let us know we weren't very good today."
Fatima (3-1) will play Friday at Russellville in Show-Me Conference action.
The Comets also picked up an 8-4 win Monday at Hallsville. Dickneite had three doubles and four RBI, while Brandt and Crede each had three hits.
Jonathon Backes earned the win, striking out six in 42/3 innings.