Oran baseball team goes without a hit against Helias

Though the Oran Eagles were able to hold Helias at bay most of the afternoon Friday they couldn't match the performance of Crusader starter Trevor Schnieders.

Pitching the first no-hitter of his high school career, Schnieders allowed only three walks while striking out six as his team scored late in a 5-0 win at the Notre Dame Showcase.

"I think if we would have been any place any different we would have seen at least one of those as a hit," Oran coach Mitch Wood said about some of his team's well hit balls. "But their pitcher did a heck of a job.

"He did a great job of doing the job he had to do. We hit the ball hard, we just hit it right at them."

"I think I had 'em all working," Schnieders said about his pitches. "It just felt good." Schnieders said he began thinking about a no-hitter around the fifth inning.

Oran’s Bear Hicks watches a called third strike during the Eagles’ 5-0 loss to Jefferson City Helias on Friday at the Notre Dame Showcase. (ADAM VOGLER)

"But nobody was talking or saying anything in the dugout," he said with a smile.

The game was a pitcher's duel early on as Oran starter Kody Moore shut the Crusaders out for the first five innings of play. Helias got the break it needed, however, when Schnieders led off the sixth inning with a bloop double into right field.

A ground ball to short scored the go-ahead run later in the inning, and a misplayed ground ball made it 2-0.

"I thought [Moore] was alright. They just started finding holes," Wood said. "It was one of things where I thought one of the check swings could have been a strike, and then there was an error. So we created a lot of that ourselves."

Three more runs in the seventh gave Schnieders additional breathing room. He brushed off a frame-opening error by retiring the next three batters to close out the win.

"He threw pretty well," Crusaders coach Chris Wyrick said about Schnieders. "There was times where he overthrew, and that's where he got in trouble in the inning where he walked two guys. But he knows if he pitches and spots his fastball, he's a good pitcher."

On his success against Oran, Schneiders added, "My curveball was working, and I was just slowing myself down."

Lane Caldwell led Helias' 13-hit attack with a 3-for-3 performance that included a double and run scored. Cole Distler, Hayden Lee and Schnieders all had two hits, including a double by Schnieders.

"I was a little concerned going into those late innings because we put some runners on base with some hits early," Wyrick said. "But we didn't do the little things to get those guys over in scoring position and then get them in.

"I was little concerned there, but I knew if we kept swinging the bats we'd eventually break through."

Helias 000 002 3 -- 5 14 1

Oran 000 000 0 -- 0 0 1

WP: Trevor Schnieders. LP: Kody Moore. Multiple hits: Lane Caldwell (H) 3-3, Cole Distler (H) 2-4, Hayden Lee (H) 2-4, Trevor Schnieders (H) 2-4. 2B: Caldwell (H), Schnieders (H), Jordan Backes (H). Records: Helias 10-3, Oran 8-5.