It had been a full year since their previous matchup, but the Helias Crusaders picked up right where they left off against the Bolivar Liberators.
Helias followed its longest game of the season - a 16-inning win against Blair Oaks - by playing its shortest game of the year, cruising to a 10-0 win in five innings Tuesday in the Class 4 sectionals at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"It feels like we just got started," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said after the win. "It kind of snuck up on me. It was 7-0 and the next thing you know, we've got two more guys on base and I'm thinking we may get this thing done in five (innings).
"It's good that we smelled blood in the water and we went for it, and we got it done."
Last season, Helias scored four runs in the 11th inning of a 5-1 district championship win against Bolivar. On Tuesday, the Crusaders were back at it, posting a four-run first inning.
Helias jumped on Bolivar starting pitcher Conner Sechler, batting around the order in the bottom of the first and collecting six hits in the inning.
"We faced him last year and we beat him last year," Wyrick said. "He's a good pitcher and he's got good stuff, but our aggressiveness paid off early."
Back-to-back RBI singles by Alex Buschjost and Parker Schnieders put Helias ahead 2-0. Jeremiah Heckman came through later in the first with a two-run double to extend the Crusaders' lead to four runs.
Helias had three infield singles in the first inning, including a perfectly placed bunt single by Drew Boessen to load the bases ahead of Heckman.
Tyler Cassmeyer pitched another gem for the Crusaders, allowing three hits and two walks in the shutout. He struck out seven of the 19 batters he faced.
"When he doesn't try to overthrow, he's really solid," Wyrick said of Cassmeyer. " If he stays within himself and just fills up the zone and tries to pitch instead of throw, he's pretty dominant."
Cassmeyer experienced some minor trouble in the third with runners on first and third base with one out, but the senior right-hander got an infield popup and a groundout to get out of the inning unscathed.
He was also aided by Nick Brandt, who made a leaping catch on a ball in right-center field in the fifth inning that could have gone for extra bases.
"That's a top-10 play," Wyrick said. "That's as good of a play as I've seen in a long time."
Being aggressive on the basepaths led to a handful of outs in Helias' previous game against Blair Oaks. This time, it set the tone for a few big innings.
"With (Sechler), we know we're going to have to make things happen," Wyrick said. "If we get runners on base, we can't wait for four hits to score two runs."
Nine batters came to the plate for the Helias in the fifth. All nine reached base.
An RBI single by Schnieders and a two-run single by Boessen made the score 7-0. Austin Fennewald followed with an RBI double.
Bolivar (16-9) then brought in Brett Tucker to pitch. Tucker walked three of the four batters he faced, ending the game with a bases-loaded, walk-off walk to Trevor Austin.
Helias finished with 14 hits, getting at least one hit from each spot in the batting order. Schnieders with 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Crusaders. Fennewald finished with one single and one double, while Matt Dampf and Boessen each had two singles.
Helias (18-6), ranked No. 7 in last week's Class 4 state rankings by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, will host No. 2 Aurora (24-3) at 5 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinal round. The Houn Dawgs beat third-ranked Monett 5-0 in their sectional matchup Tuesday.
Aurora won 9-4 against Helias in last year's quarterfinal round and finished third in the state.
"We've got to be aggressive in the strike zone," Wyrick said. "They've got arms galore down there. Even if they threw their No. 1 today, we're going to get No. 1A on Thursday.
"It's going to be a challenge. They got us last year down there, and we didn't feel like we played as good as we could have, so we're hoping this year's a different story."