[3/9/03]Hits and runs were in awfully short supply Saturday afternoon at Bazinsky Park. When the St. Aloysius Lady Flashes finally got some of each, they were able to collect another mark in the win column.

Kelly Haden scored the winning run on a sacrifice bunt by Catherine Jenkins in the bottom of the ninth inning to help St. Al stay unbeaten with a 1-0 win over St. Frederick, La.

The teams combined for only four hits, three of them by St. Al (3-0). Lady Flashes pitcher Laura Beth Lyons held St. Frederick (2-5) to one hit while walking two and striking out five in a complete game.

“I think both of us realized this was going to come down to one run. It was just a question of who was going to get it,” St. Al coach Gene Rogillio said.

For most of the game, it was doubtful if anyone would even get a hit, let alone a run.

Lyons walked leadoff hitter Jennifer Trahan in the first inning, then retired the next 17 batters she faced. Only one ball was hit out of the infield until Trahan hit a clean single up the middle with two outs in the top of the sixth.

The hit snapped a string of 12-2/3 no-hit innings by Lyons, a streak that spanned St. Al’s first three games and included a five-inning no-hitter on Friday against Sebastopol.

“After last night, and then pitching today, I was tired, but I was still pitching like I normally do,” Lyons said.

Although Lyons was dominant, so were St. Frederick’s pitchers. Trahan started the game and didn’t allow a hit through five innings while walking three. She was relieved by Jennifer Tudor to start the sixth inning, and Tudor only allowed three hits in four innings of relief.

“I wanted to bring in my next pitcher just to get some innings in,” St. Frederick coach Brooke Shelton said of the decision to pull Trahan.

Neither team had a serious scoring threat until the extra innings. St. Frederick got only one runner past second base until the ninth, when Tudor reached on an error and Sarah Hummel walked to put runners at first and third with two outs. Lyons struck out Crystal Bradford to end the inning and the threat, however.

“We were struggling big-time on our hitting,” Shelton said. “The strike zone was very wide, but he was consistent. He called high, low, everywhere in between.”

St. Al got its first hit on Stephanie Evans’ two-out single in the seventh inning, but didn’t get a runner past second base until the eighth, when it stranded runners at second and third.

In the ninth, a couple of fielding mistakes by St. Frederick made sure the Lady Flashes wouldn’t strand anyone else.

Haden reached on an error to start the inning, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mary Myers Franco. When Haden got to second, however, she saw that no one was covering third and alertly took the base without a play.

After Kayla Childress was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt, the Lady Warrior infielders failed to move in on the corners to play for another bunt. Jenkins dropped a perfect bunt just to the right of the plate, and Haden easily scored the winning run.

Vicksburg 8, NW Rankin 2

Kelsey Hudson drove in five runs, Heather Shelby had three hits and an RBI, and Courtney Prentiss went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored as Vicksburg won their first game of the season.

Lauren Johnson allowed only two hits and one walk in four innings before she was hit by a pitch and left the circle.

Whitney Smith relieved and gave up one earned run and two hits in three innings to get the save. Smith also went 2-for-2 with two RBIs at the plate.

The Missy Gators blew the game open with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase their lead to 8-2.

VHS 9, Brookhaven 8

The Missy Gators rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Brookhaven.

Johnson started the rally with a double, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Smith to tie the game at 8-8.

Katie Jenkins, who had singled, then scored the winning run on a dropped fly off the bat of Shelby.

The Missy Gators, who had struggled offensively early in the season, had 24 hits in their two games on Saturday.