The approach remains the same, no matter the opponent.
“Have good at-bats, pump the strike zone, make the routine plays,” Helias coach Chris Wyrick said Tuesday after the Crusaders defeated the Owensville Dutchmen 11-1 in five innings at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
“That has to be the philosophy.”
The Dutchmen entered the game with just one win on the season and Wyrick said the Crusaders did a good job of keeping focused on the task at hand.
“There were a couple of innings we went through the motions, we talked about it a little bit and got that straightened out,” Wyrick said.
Helias scored four runs in both the first and second innings.
In the first, six of the first seven batters reached base for the Crusaders. Drew Miller led off with a walk and went to second on a single by Sam Wyrick.
David Hofherr doubled to left-center to score Miller to make it 1-0. Kase Winegar then reached on an infield error as Wyrick scored as Hofherr held at second. Ben Miller then hit a pop fly down the line in left the Owensville third baseman caught, but when no Dutchman player was covering third, Hofherr alertly moved up a base as Winegar advanced to second.
Patrick Baker walked to load the bases before Maddox Alfutis walked to score Hofherr. Thorn Phillips closed the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly to left to score Winegar.
The Crusaders sent eight batters to the plate in the second. Drew Miller led off with a single, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice before getting to third on an infield single by Hofherr.
Winegar then tripled to left-center to make it 6-0. Ben Miller followed with a double to score Winegar. Courtesy runner Trey Rice later scored on a wild pitch.
Owensville tallied its run in the top of the third. Will Lauth led off with an infield single, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a groundout by Jaden Gerlemann.
Helias added a run in the fourth. Nate Roark drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild throw to center. He then scored on a wild pitch.
The Crusaders won the game by run-rule by scoring two runs in the fifth.
Myles Gresham was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to third when a pickoff throw went down the line in right. One out later, Wyrick doubled to left to score Gresham. Hofherr reached on an error and Roark was hit by a pitch to load the bases before a balk was called to score Wyrick with the game-ending run.
“Never,” Chris Wyrick said if he had ever been in a game ended by a balk.
Helias finished with eight hits while drawing six walks off two Owensville pitchers
“Hopefully we learned something tonight,” Wyrick said. “They didn’t throw prototypical pitchers, you have to make the adjustments because they aren’t going to change just for us.”
Sam Wyrick and Hofherr both had two hits for the Crusaders. The top four hitters in the order -- Drew Miller, Wyrick, Hofherr and Winegar -- all scored two runs.
Cole Scheulen got the win for the Crusaders, working the first three innings. He allowed an unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out four.
“He is sneaky fast, he just lulls you to sleep and all of the sudden he pops that fastball by you,” Wyrick said.
Gresham pitched the final two innings, allowing one hit while getting all six outs via strikeouts.
“He pumped the zone, like he always does,” Wyrick said.
Scheulen and Gresham are among the pitchers the Crusaders will be counting on as the schedule gets busy in the next couple of weeks.
“We have some back-to-backs, we have some Saturday games followed by Mondays,” Wyrick said. “We’re going to need all of our pitchers to throw well against good teams.”
Helias (10-2), ranked No. 3 in Class 5, will take on Borgia at 5 p.m. Friday at the Legion Complex.
“They’ve been good,” Wyrick said. “They have pitching that is very capable of getting us out so we have a lot of work to do the next couple of days.”
The Crusaders and the Knights are both assigned the District 5 Tournament, scheduled to be played next month at Union.
“It sets you up for seeding,” Wyrick said. “There are a lot of good arms in that district, you want to get the best seed you can.”
In Tuesday’s JV game, Helias posted a pair of five-run innings in a 13-2 victory against Owensville.
CJ Howell, Kristopher Haley and Landon Gerlach had two hits each in a 13-hit Helias attack. Howell, Gerlach, Calen Jones and Jude Dallmeyer all scored two runs. Howell and Haley both had two RBI.
Dallmeyer went the distance on the mound. In five innings, he allowed one earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out nine for the Crusaders (7-2-2).