Max Buscher was efficient Wednesday night. The Fatima senior right-handed pitcher threw 98 pitches in his second straight complete game. He limited the Blair Oaks Falcons to a pair of hits, leading the Comets to a 3-0 victory at Lions Field.
This one just means a little more.
The Russellville Indians and the Fatima Comets are Show-Me Conference rivals. So not only was Thursday’s game the opener in pool play for the Jays Baseball Classic, the schools decided it also would count for their conference meeting this season.
They battled to the very last pitch like you knew conference rivals would.
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.
The previous two postseason matchups between the Blair Oaks Falcons and the Fatima Comets had been instant classics. The Falcons made sure Tuesday night’s Class 4 District 8 Tournament semifinal game was more one-sided. Wil Libbert pitched a one-hitter through six innings and Blair Oaks piled on five runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull away to a 7-0 win against Fatima at Southern Boone High School.
It was a shame someone had to lose Thursday night’s game at the Falcon Athletic Complex. But in baseball, there has to be a winner and there has to be a loser. Wil Libbert of Blair Oaks and Max Buscher of Fatima pitched scoreless inning after scoreless inning through seven innings in a pitchers’ duel between the two district foes. Libbert hit his pitch-count limit in the top of the eighth, while Buscher was able to pitch a complete game.