Bond pitches 5-hitter, Helias beats Fatima 3-0 in CCI pool play

The Helias Crusaders needed to play a good game.

The Crusaders opened play Friday in the Capital City Invitational with a 13-0 loss in six innings to the Hickman Kewpies.

"That's not what we're about," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. "We had a meeting to talk about it, the kids understand that's not what Helias baseball is about and we're going to do our darnedest to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Friday night, it didn't happen again. The Crusaders got a gem on the mound from Bryce Bond in a 3-0 victory against the Fatima Comets at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.

"That was one of the two best starts we've gotten this season," Wyrick said. "He threw his fastball for strikes, his curveball for strikes, he got several outs with his change-up.

"That was impressive."

Bond, a junior left-hander, went the distance in throwing a five-hitter. He walked three and struck out seven.

"(Bond) threw very well," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "He did a good job of mixing his pitches, working in and out."

The Comets had a chance to get to Bond early. With one out, Fatima sandwiched a pair of walks around a single to load the bases. But Bond got a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.

"To get out of that was huge in us winning this ballgame," Wyrick said.

Helias took the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning. Zach Woehr was hit by a pitch to start the inning and stoke second. One out later, Trevor Austin lined an 0-1 pitch to left to score Woehr.

The Crusaders added a run in the third. Woehr hit a two-out double and came around to score on a throwing error.

Helias added an insurance run in the sixth. With two outs, the Crusaders got back-to-back singles followed by consecutive walks to force home a run.

"That was a big inning, to do that with two outs," Wyrick said. "On a day like today, we'll take it. Our competitiveness showed a little bit there."

Fatima had good scoring chances in the third and sixth innings. The Comets got consecutive one-out singles in the third, then led off the sixth with two singles. But Bond was able to work his way out of the jams.

"He pitched himself into trouble and he pitched himself out of trouble," Wyrick said. "We know that it can be difficult to throw games like this on a consistent basis. But if he can learn from this, take away some confidence from this, he is going to be a very good pitcher for us all season."

Bond had 54 pitches through three innings, but ended at exactly 100.

"He bowed his neck a little bit and got some outs without wasting a lot of pitches," Wyrick said.

Austin led Helias with two hits and also reached on a walk. It was his first time in the lineup in the Invitational after sitting out Helias' first two games with a leg injury.

"Trevor had a good day at the plate," Wyrick said. "He hit it hard. He can't run very well right now, but he can swing the bat. He's a big cog in what we're trying to do."

Helias (6-2) will face Jefferson City (11-3) in the third-place game at 11 a.m. today at Vivion Field.