The Helias Lady Crusaders were down 5-0 on Monday before they came to the plate.
There was no reason to panic.
"It was a big hole, but I knew we'd keep fighting, we always do," Helias coach Dan Campbell after the Lady Crusaders chipped away for a 9-7 victory against the Father Tolton Lady Blazers at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"We knew we didn't have to get all five in one inning, just get a couple here and a couple there and get back into it."
Tolton got one run in the first when it sandwiched a bunt single around a pair of Helias infield errors. Paige Bedsworth followed with a three-run home run on the first pitch to make it 4-0. The Lady Blazers then got an RBI single from Sophie Angel for their final run of the inning.
"We gave them five or six outs in the first and they are a good hitting team and they made us pay for it," Campbell said.
It took two pitches for Helias to get on the board in the bottom of the inning as Taylor Woehr lined a homer over the fence in left.
"That gave us some momentum, it told us we can hit the ball," Campbell said.
Kenley Haslag drove in Rylee Kolb and Abbi Pringer later in the inning to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Woehr homered again with two outs in the second, this one a little different from the first. She lined a ball down the line in right field, where there's about a 10-foot gap between the temporary outfield fence and the chain link fence and the ball came to a stop near that gap. While the Tolton rightfielder threw her arms into the air to signal a ground-rule double, Woehr kept running.
The ground rule at the Complex is there is an imaginary line from the temporary fence and the chain link fence and it is the judgment of the umpires if the ball crossed that line.
"And in his judgment, it didn't," Campbell said.
Tolton added two runs in the fourth to push its lead to 7-4. Helias got those two back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Haslag and a sacrifice fly by Sophia Carr.
Helias took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth. Riley Heckenkamp had a two-run double for the Lady Crusaders, while Holly Hentges had an RBI single.
After Helias starter Alexa Rehmeier held Tolton scoreless in the fifth, Lauren Howell came on in relief. She retired all six batters she faced, five by strikeout.
"When you can bring in someone like Lauren to close it out, that's usually pretty effective," Campbell said.
Rehmeier got the win. She allowed seven runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out four.
Woehr had three of Helias' 11 hits. Pringer and Haslag added two each as Helias went down in order in just one inning Monday. Woehr scored three times, while Kolb and Pringer scored twice.
Tolton is now 8-4.
The Lady Crusaders were coming off a Capital City Invitational championship Saturday, including a win against the Jefferson City Lady Jays in the title game.
"I was pretty sure there would be a chance of a letdown today after beating your crosstown rival and winning a big tournament," Campbell said. "I told the girls they needed to regenerate themselves on Sunday because this was the start of a big week for us."
Helias (12-3) will play today at Southern Boone, a potential district opponent. The Lady Crusaders then will play home on Wednesday in a rescheduled game against Rolla and Thursday against potential district foe Mexico.
"Mexico has already beaten us and for us to make a case to be the No. 1 seed, that's one we're going to have to play well in," Campbell said.
Game time is 5 p.m. today in Ashland.