The Helias Crusaders were at a crossroads a little more than halfway through the baseball season.
Back on April 22, a 4-2 loss at Rock Bridge left Helias a game under .500 with a record of 7-8.
“All we could do was try to keep getting better, work to get better,” Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. “Don’t give up.”
It took one day — the day after the loss to the Bruins in Columbia — for things to turn around. The Crusaders hit the road to Cape Girardeau for a pair games against Cape Notre Dame and Kelly. The long trip paid dividends
“Sometimes it’s good to get away from home where it’s just you and your teammates,” Wyrick said. “You have to have each other’s backs.”
Helias defeated Cape Notre Dame 17-0 and Kelly 16-1 that Saturday in southeast Missouri. Those two wins started a 10-game winning streak for the Crusaders (17-8) as they head to Willard today to take on the Tigers (31-7) in a Class 5 quarterfinal. Game time is 1 p.m.
“That helped the guys realize if they put good swings on pitches, attack good pitches, they can beat anybody,” Wyrick said. “Everybody that pitched that day pitched with confidence.
“I think that gave us confidence we could compete against anybody. Once we got on a roll, I think we started to believe that we were a legitimate team and we could make a run in the postseason and they went for it.”
Willard, the defending Class 5 state champion, has been ranked No. 1 all season by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association.
The Tigers enter today having won 10 of their last 11 games, with the lone loss an 18-3 decision May 11 against Rock Bridge. The Tigers dominated their first two District 6 tournament games, winning by a combined score of 23-2. Willard defeated Glendale, ranked No. 2 in the state, 6-0 in the title game.
“They’re a great program, they’re a team that won’t beat itself,” Wyrick said.
Kade Bieller, a senior heading to Drury, has allowed only 23 hits in 381/3 innings this season on the mound for Willard. An all-state selection last year as an outfielder, Bieller is hitting .289 with eight doubles, four home runs and 12 stolen bases.
Cooper Wilken is 9-0 on the mound for Willard with a 2.65 ERA.
Cooper Hampton, a second-team all-state pick last season, is hitting .344, while teammate Owen Bushnell is hitting .398 with seven home runs and 42 RBI.
“They like to cause as much chaos as they can on the bases with bunts and steals, we’re going to have to be ready defensively,” Wyrick said. “If we can maintain calm on defense, we should be OK. If we can make them have to get three hits to score, I think we’ll be OK. But if we walk guys and have a few misplays, then just one hit scores a run.
“We need to make sure they earn everything they get.”
The Helias offense has hit its stride in the winning streak, averaging just under nine runs per game.
“We’re making teams make plays and when they don’t, we’re capitalizing on them,” Wyrick said. “Through the first 15 games, we weren’t making teams pay for the errors they were making. We’d strike out or hit into a double play.
“Now we’re putting pressure on them with the very next hitter.”
Jaden Kolb leads Helias, hitting .302 as a team, with a .390 average. He has driven in 20 runs and leads the Crusaders with 26 runs scored. Kolb has two of Helias’ five home runs.
David Hofherr, who started the season in the No. 9 spot in the order before working his way to the middle of the lineup, is second at .383 with a team-high 23 RBI.
“When you’re in the nine-spot, there’s not a lot of pressure on you all the time, you just go up there and hit,” Wyrick said. “He got progressively better, so we moved him up in the lineup and he didn’t shirk away from the responsibility.”
Sam Wyrick is next with a .376 average. He has a team-leading five triples to go along with 18 runs scored and 20 RBI.
In the winning streak, the Crusaders have played a lot of small ball with hit-and-runs, sacrifices and squeeze plays to manufacture runs.
“That’s fun baseball to me,” Chris Wyrick said.
Sam Wyrick is Helias’ probable starter on the mound this afternoon. He is 4-1 with a 0.36 ERA in seven games, totaling a team-high 381/3 innings. Wyrick has walked 11 and struck out 52.
“He’s at his most calm when he’s on the mound.” Chris Wyrick said. “He just pounds the strike zone, he loves to pitch.”
Nate Roark is next for the Crusaders with 351/3 innings pitched. He is 4-1 with a 3.17 ERA, totaling 12 walks and 38 strikeouts.
“He’s done a great job all season,” Wyrick said.
Cole Peters has a team-high five wins, mostly out of the bullpen. In 33 innings, Peters has a 1.27 ERA with 36 strikeouts.
“That’s a very good season for Cole,” Wyrick said.
With the long break since the district title game and the start of next week’s Final Four, Helias and Willard could use multiple pitchers today if needed.
“We both will have everybody, it will be a grind from first pitch to last pitch,” Wyrick said. “I think we’re ready.”
Notes: This is the second quarterfinal meeting between Helias and Willard. On May 24, 2012, the Tigers defeated the Crusaders 6-5 in eight innings in the Class 4 quarterfinals at Willard. … The teams have eight common opponents — Battle, Blair Oaks, Carthage, Hickman, Kickapoo, Ozark, Rock Bridge and Sedalia Smith-Cotton. The Crusaders finished 4-4 in these games, while the Tigers were 6-2. … Helias is looking for the 13th Final Four trip in program history. The Crusaders have won five state titles. … The 31 victories are a single-season program record for Willard. The previous mark was 30 in 2019. … The Helias-Willard winner will take on the winner of Festus and Lutheran South in the semifinals at 4 p.m. next Friday at U.S. Ballpark in Ozark.