Jason Brown, St. Al’s starter, looks to the dugout as Cathedral’s Rodney Daggett rounds third with his two-run homer in the fifth inning that made it 8-3. Top photo, St. Al coach Joe Graves talks to his team after the game.(The Vicksburg Post/MARK THORNTON)

[05/05/02]NATCHEZ St. Aloysius jumped up early, but it was Cathedral’s players jumping up when the game was over Saturday.

Clay Hammons and Rodney Daggett homered as the Green Wave (18-11) came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 9-3 and force a deciding Game 3 in the Class 1A South State series.

The Catholic school rivals will play Monday at 7 p.m. at Bazinsky Field for the right to play either Myrtle or Hamilton for the state championship. Game 2 of that series, which was rained out Saturday, will be Monday at Hamilton. Myrtle won the opener.

“We had won like 11 in a row,” said St. Al coach Joe Graves, whose team was swept in the South State series last year. “Sooner or later, you have to lose one.

“I’m not worried. We’ve come back before.”

The Flashes (22-4) took advantage of two early errors and a wild pitch to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Aaron George had an RBI triple in the first inning, and Alex Frisbee drove in a run in the second before Dan Muirhead scored on a wild pitch.

Left-hander Chris Norris (10-3) didn’t allow another run after that despite three more errors behind him. The Wave’s defense was tight when it needed to be as Norris got out of jams in the third and seventh innings and struck out the side in the sixth.

Cathedral coach Ken Beesley didn’t take any chances, though. He left his ace in for the duration.

“You never can relax against them,” said Beesley, whose team lost Game 1 after St. Al scored four runs in the seventh to win, 6-5.

“They made a rally at the end there. When we got that big stick out, I felt a little better,” he said, referring to George’s high popup with runners on second and third for the second out of the seventh inning. “I think we’ve only got him out three times this year.”

St. Al left-hander Jason Brown (8-1) took his first loss of the season, giving up eight hits and four walks in five innings.

“I just couldn’t hit my spots,” Brown said. “I think we’ll regroup and be OK.”

Graves pulled Brown after the fifth inning so he would still be available for Game 3. George, the likely starter and Game 1 winner, will be available, as will Charlie Amborn and Zane Key, who relieved Brown for an inning.

“Pitching’s not a problem for us,” Graves said. “We’ll be OK.”

Beesley said he was surprised at his team’s success against a left-hander.

“I didn’t expect that,” he said. “We haven’t hit left-handers all year.”

After getting a two-out RBI single in the second, the Wave strung together three of their 10 hits with two outs in the third inning to take the lead. Hammons’ three-run homer to left-center made it 4-3, and Daniel Wisner hit a run-scoring blooper to right after Garrett Jones tripled.

“They had the momentum … that home run turned things around,” Beesley said.

Back-to-back errors gave Cathedral one more run in the third, then Daggett hit a two-run shot to right the first of his career to make it 8-3.

“It was almost like an accident,” the junior right fielder said. “I didn’t know it was going out. Coach had to tell me to slow down … I was about to lap the runner.”

The Wave tacked on one more run in the seventh after two walks and another error.

“Both of those are outs at Bazinsky,” Graves said of the home runs at Chester Willis Field, which has a short fence.

Norris struck out six and gave up eight hits without any walks.

Walker Hengst and George went 2-for-4, and Blake Warnock had a ground-rule double to center in the seventh.

For Cathedral, Hammons and Wisner went 2-for-3.

Even though the Flashes’ defense made it’s share of mistakes, it also sparkled at times.

Second baseman Victor Segers, Amborn (right field) and Warnock (center) all made run-saving catches.

“We’re swing the bats well right now,” Beesley said. “It’s going to come down to the team that plays defense.”

Beesley said Norris “might give us a couple of innings” Monday.

“I checked with all my pitchers and told them they may have to pitch two or three innings,” he said. “We don’t have anyone ready to go a full seven.”

Graves said his team would practice this afternoon, but he’s not panicking.

“We’ve worked our tails off all year for this,” he said. “We can’t dwell on a loss. We’ve just got to get up and regroup.

“We’ll have a big crowd and I’m sure everyone will be fired up.”

Taggett said the Wave will be ready, too.

“We want to beat them real bad,” he said. “It seems like we’ve just been snakebit against them. We just have to keep our heads.”