St. Al wins big, but looked bad doing it’

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Victor Segers of St. Aloysius reaches for the ball as Pelahatchie’s James McNair slides into second. Looking on is St. Aloysius shortstop Clay Simmons. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[02/27/01] Joe Graves usually uses his long postgame talks for when his team loses.

Not Monday.

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Despite winning 10-1 over division rival Pelahatchie (0-2, 0-2 Division 6-1A), Graves held his St. Aloysius squad (4-0, 1-0) for a spirited 20-minute talk behind the pitcher’s mound.

“We won 10-1, but we looked bad doing it,” said Graves, whose team was coming off a pair of five-inning no-hitters. “We were flat and I don’t know why.

“We play Saturday and knock the cover off the baseball and play a great game … We worked hard and then we come out here and we’re flat.”

There were exceptions, Graves said.

Aaron George continued his pitching and hitting dominance. The junior pitched six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out eight to improve to 2-0.

At the plate, George belted a first-inning home run, then hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the third as the Flashes built a 4-1 lead.

“We were getting behind in the count and making some mistakes,” said Pelahatchie coach Willis Clark, whose team committed six errors. “St. Al has a very good team and when you make mistakes, they’ll make you pay.”

Blake Warnock had a pair of hits, an RBI and scored three runs, while Charlie Amborn had a pair of singles and an RBI as part of the Flashes’ five-hit attack.

George walked in the fifth inning and pinch-runner Alex Frisbee stole second. Frisbee scored from second base on a passed ball that the catcher couldn’t find for a 6-1 lead.

St. Al added four runs on an Amborn two-RBI single, a Warnock RBI single and two Chiefs’ errors.

“Sometimes you come out, think you’re ready and you can’t get in a rhythm,” Graves said. “You look out of sync and that’s what we did tonight.”

The Flashes will host Madison St. Joe on Friday.