It's looking like it could be a good summer for the Helias Crusaders.
"I'm excited for this team going forward," Helias coach Chris Ebright said after Helias' No. 2 varsity team defeated the Capital City Cavaliers 11-1 and 11-3 at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex. "Coach (Chris) Wyrick seems to have this program in a really good spot."
This Crusader team is mostly made up of players that were freshmen and sophomores this past school year, just like Capital City's varsity roster.
The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in Game 1 of the doubleheader with an RBI single by Ben Turner, scoring Jaden Chapman in the top of the first inning.
It was all Helias after that.
The Crusaders sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, getting an RBI single from Sam Hentges and a two-run single from Billy Underwood. A pair of errors plated two more runs to extend the Helias lead to 7-1.
"We're putting the ball in play, we're throwing strikes, we're making routine plays," Ebright said.
Drew Miller settled down on the mound for the Crusaders, who held the Cavaliers without a hit the rest of the game. Miller struck out three batters in three innings, retiring eight of the last nine batters he faced.
"This first week, we're putting kids in different situations, seeing how they compete," Ebright said. "But we're also putting the pressure on them, putting them in tough situations so they can get the jitters out."
Nick Heislen pitched a scoreless fourth inning for the Crusaders, who added two runs in the third and two more in the fourth to end the game by run-rule.
Brett Kuebler pitched the first two innings for Capital City, giving up seven runs on three hits with three walks and one strikeout.
Helias scored in every inning of Game 2, starting off with three runs in the first. Nick Jeffries followed with an RBI single in the second inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gage Wilde to extend the Crusaders' lead to 5-0.
Jeffries finished the doubleheader with three hits. He a two-run double into the left-field corner, scoring Logan Wilson and Branden Scheulen in the third to make the score 7-0.
"Nick is a great ballplayer," Ebright said. "He knows where to be. He's one of those quiet kids that opposing teams should worry about."
It would have been a bases-clearing double for Jeffries, but Capital City put together a perfect relay - left fielder Taggert Bodenstab to third baseman Turner to Chapman, the catcher - to throw out a third runner trying to score to end the inning.
Helias utilized a pitcher per inning for the first four innings, holding Capital City without a hit.
"We have confidence in whoever we throw on the mound," Ebright said. "If something bad happens, they're going to bounce right back."
The Cavaliers broke up the no-hitter in the fifth when Bodenstab tripled into the right-field gap, then ended the shutout when Chapman singled home Bodenstab.
Capital City added two more runs in the fifth to make the score 11-3, marking the first time the Cavaliers scored more than one run in a game during the first week of this summer league.
Hentges and Scheulen each finished with two singles for the Crusaders.
Each team still has four weeks remaining in the summer league. But, considering they didn't get together as a team until Monday, they both said it was a productive first week.
"Next week, I think you're going to see more of what we can do, good and bad," Ebright said. "But I think it's going to be mostly positive with what we've seen this week."
Helias (3-1) plays a doubleheader Tuesday at New Bloomfield, while Capital City (0-4) is scheduled to play its first home games Tuesday against Helias' No. 1 varsity team.