The final scores didn't really matter Tuesday night.
Baseball was back.
"I don't want to say we don't care about winning, we do," Fatima coach Brian Bax said after the Comets split a summer league doubleheader against the Helias Crusaders at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex. "But this gets some normalcy back in the lives of these kids."
Helias coach Garrett Wiggans couldn't agree more.
"Just seeing the guys was huge," he said.
The Crusaders and the Comets were both coming off Final Four appearances in 2019 and had high hopes to get back to that level again this spring before the season was canceled due to COVID-19.
"The biggest thing is getting out here and do something we've been waiting to do for a few months," Bax said.
Bax said the Comets had nine practices, all under social distancing guidelines, to prepare for the four-week season.
"About half the guys make the practice, because of work and things like that," Bax said.
That was eight more organized practices than Helias had. Coaches could not work with the team until this week.
"We couldn't do anything with the guys until Monday," Wiggans said. "They put in a lot of work on their own to get ready for this, it's a tribute to them to how well we played. It was all on them.
"Maybe they don't need us in the spring?"
Helias posted a 3-1 win in the opener.
The Crusaders scored twice in the first. Jake Weaver hit a one-out double before scoring on a triple by Zach Wolken. Wolken then came home to score on a balk.
Helias made it 3-0 in the third. Weaver belted a two-out triple and scored on a wild pitch by Fatima starter Austin Troesser.
"It was a pitch that was supposed to be chest-high, he throws it in the dirt and it goes to the screen," Bax said. "In a normal spring, that wouldn't happen."
It was a rare mistake by Troesser, a graduated senior who has signed with Missouri. He pitched four innings Tuesday, allowing three hits with one walk while recording nine strikeouts.
"When you face a very good pitcher, you have to be ready to fight and scratch to get runs across," Wiggans said. "We haven't seen live pitching since the Jamboree way back in March and to face such a quality pitcher like we did in Troesser, it shows we were focused."
Fatima scored its run in the top of the seventh. Braden Juergensmeyer led off with a triple and scored one out later on a single by Gage Cunningham.
Kaleb Haley was the starter and winner for the Crusaders. He allowed three hits and no walks in five innings, striking out six.
"He's thrown a lot of bullpens to get ready for this," Wiggans said.
Jason Haselhorst pitched the final two innings to get the save. He allowed two hits, while striking out three.
In the second game, Fatima scored six runs in the seventh inning to pull away to a 9-1 victory.
It was scoreless after three innings before Fatima plated a pair of runs in the fourth.
Jaden Hoskins was hit by a pitch to start the inning before moving to second on a single by Jake Boyce. Brandon Dulle was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Jared Markway drove a two-run single to center.
Hoskins singled home Trey Herzing with two outs in the fifth to make it 3-0.
Helias got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Haselhorst singled with two outs before Ethan Holzhauser doubled him home.
The Comets then sent nine batters to the plate in the seventh to score six times. Dalton Gentges had a two-run triple to key the inning.
Helias managed just two hits off three Fatima pitchers in the second game.
"We just couldn't hit," Wiggans said.
The league continues Thursday with Fatima hosting Jefferson City and Helias playing at New Bloomfield.