SULLIVAN, Mo. - It wasn't quite the four-hour, 16-inning affair last season at the Class 4 District 9 Tournament, but it took some time to produce a winner between the Helias Crusaders and the Blair Oaks Falcons on Monday night.
In a game that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes - aided by a 90-minute weather delay after the top of the fourth inning - Helias came away with an 8-2 win against Blair Oaks in the district semifinals at the Bank of Sullivan Ball Park.
The Crusaders never trailed and scored in five of the six innings they came to bat. Zach Paschal hit a two-run single in the bottom of the first to give Helias a 2-0 lead.
Helias tacked on runs in the second and third innings to extend its advantage to 4-1 when play was stopped.
In the bottom of the fifth, Alex Buschjost had an RBI single and two more runs scored on an error to make the score 7-1. Helias scored another run in the sixth to go ahead by seven runs, its biggest lead of the game.
Parker Bax's sacrifice fly in the top of the third gave Blair Oaks its first run. Nolan Hair came home on a double steal in the seventh for the Falcons' other run.
Connor McKenna pitched a complete game for Helias to get the win. In seven innings, he allowed two runs on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.
Colton Hoelscher took the loss for Blair Oaks, which ended the season with a 14-18 record. Hoelscher allowed seven runs on five hits with six walks and four strikeouts in 4 innings.
Bax pitched the next 1 innings for the Falcons. He gave up one run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
Buschjost collected half the Crusaders' hits, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, one triple and one RBI. Paschal added a pair of singles.
Kamron Morriss and Hair each went 2-for-4 with one single and one double to lead Blair Oaks, the No. 5 seed in the district.
Helias (19-7), the No. 1 seed, will face third-seeded St. James for the district championship at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Tigers defeated No. 2 Southern Boone 9-6 in Monday's other semifinal game.