BOLIVAR - The Helias Crusaders will play in the Class 4 baseball quarterfinals for the third straight year.
And for the third straight year, they will meet the Aurora Houn' Dawgs.
Helias advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory Tuesday against the Bolivar Liberators. That sets up a Thursday contest at Aurora, which edged Nevada 6-5 in nine innings in its sectional Tuesday.
Helias and Bolivar both scored a run in the first.
Bolivar, the visitor on the scoreboard, got its run when Zach Howard singled home Chase Hampton with two outs.
Helias tied it with a two-out rally of its own. Trevor Austin drew a walk, advanced to third on a single by Alex Buschjost before scoring on a poor throw.
The Crusaders took the lead for good in the third. With one out, Austin singled before advancing to third on a double by Buschjost. Zach Paschal then hit a two-run single to make it 3-1.
The Liberators cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the fifth when Howard singled home Hampton.
The Crusaders got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Buschjost hit a one-out single, stole second and third before scoring on a throwing error by the Bolivar catcher.
Connor McKenna was the starter and winner for the Crusaders, working 61/3 innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven.
Kaleb Haley got the save, getting the final two outs. He hit a batter and recorded a strikeout.
Buschjost had three hits to pace a 10-hit Helias attack.
Game time for Thursday's quarterfinal between Helias (21-7) and Aurora (28-1) has not been announced.
Aurora defeated Helias 8-2 last year in the quarterfinals at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex on its way to a state title. In 2016, Aurora won 9-4 at home and eventually finished third in the state.