RUSSELLVILLE It was a game that had a little bit of everything.
Big innings and blown leads. Home runs and infield singles. Plenty of walks and strikeouts. And a very strong wind blowing toward left field.
In the end, the final margin was the same as last year’s meeting between the Russellville Indians and the Blair Oaks Falcons: one run.
The Helias Crusaders didn’t play their best game. But when they needed it, they put enough together to find a way to win. “The last couple of innings, we shored things up and got the win,” Helias coach Chris Wyrick said after the Crusaders defeated the Fatima Comets 5-3 on Thursday at Lions Field.
It was a rematch of last year’s district championship, but the Blair Oaks Falcons and the Father Tolton Trailblazers had a much different look Wednesday night. The result was the same, except the Trailblazers didn’t need a fourth-quarter comeback this time. Tolton nearly led wire-to-wire, locking down defensively to come away with a 56-34 victory against Blair Oaks in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Fatima High School.
It was a good start for the Blair Oaks Falcons, but they were hoping it would be better. “There was a lot of good, but we missed out on a couple of opportunities,” Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said, as the Falcons sit in fifth place in the team standings following Wednesday’s competition in the Class 2 boys wrestling state championships at Mizzou Arena. “We lost a couple matches that could come back to haunt us."