Helias' bats came alive in the second inning to make short work of St. Joseph's Academy.
The Lady Crusaders batted around the order twice in a 12-run second before a two-run double from Ella Meyer sealed a 16-0 run-rule win in the bottom of the third Wednesday at American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
Cambri Van Loo pitched three perfect innings for Helias (13-4-1) with a pair of strikeouts while nine different players scored runs during the afternoon. Van Loo was one of many bench players to step in for the Lady Crusaders.
"Throughout the season we look for opportunities to get people in to reward them for the work that they are putting in," Fick said. "Kennedy (Kupec) started in left, but it was nice to get everybody in off the bench as well. And some of them did some good things."
Katelyn Schmidt was the starter for St. Joseph's (3-6) and only gave up one run in the first off a Paige Schaeffer groundout that scored Liv Bloomer. But after loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batter to open the second, she was pulled for Elizabeth Beldner.
After Beldner came in, the Lady Crusaders started to hit the ball all over the park. Bloomer dropped a single just over the head of the shortstop on the edge of the outfield to score two before Meyer had a two-run double to push the lead to 5-0. Schaeffer got her second and third RBI on a double before Molly Berkey's RBI single made it 8-0 after the first run through the order. In those first nine batters, the only out St. Joseph's recorded was a Beldner strikeout.
Reece Chiles, who lead off the inning with a walk, got another walk before scoring on a single from Payton Dudenhoeffer. Dudenhoeffer was one of two Lady Crusaders to score on a two-run double by Gabrielle Bax to make it 13-0 before Karoline Klebba pinch-hit and lined a ball to the second to mercifully end the inning on its 18th at-bat.
Van Loo made short work of St. Joseph's in the next half inning with a pop-out to the shortstop and two strikeouts. In the bottom half of the inning, Kupec scored on another Dudenhoeffer RBI to extend the lead to 14-0. Then Dudenhoeffer and Bloomer each scored their third run of the afternoon on the game-ending double by Meyer.
Van Loo was spotless in her spot start for Helias' second game in a stretch of three games in three days, getting outs on all nine batters she faced. Her recent performance gave the Lady Crusaders a third pitching option to rest Mallorey Rogers and Berkey for a stretch of conference and district opponents this week.
"She's been able to fill that role a couple of times to be able to give them an extra day if they need it," Fick said. "I know it's softball and I know they are able to throw back-to-back games, but it's huge. It helps us out."
A freshman, Van Loo made her varsity debut Sept. 11 coming out of the bullpen with the bases loaded against Cape Girardeau: Notre Dame needing one out to help seal a win. Van Loo got the out and has been impressive in her three starts since.
"Her composure is great," Fick said. "She knows what her strengths are and she goes out and attacks hitters and does well. She's starting to build some confidence and she's another arm that we're starting to be able to rely on."
Next, Helias faces three Central Missouri Activities Conference opponents on the road starting with Battle at 5:30 p.m. today in Columbia. The Lady Crusaders play Monday at Rock Bridge on Monday and at Hickman next Wednesday. All three are in Class 5 District 5 with Helias and will be playing for postseason seeding.
"Those are three big ball games for us," Fick said. "We'll turn our attention to battle and be ready to go up there tomorrow from pitch one and we'll see where it all lies at the end."