Forest Hill has a good enough team that, no matter what St. Aloysius threw at it, it might have been able to beat the Flashes.

St. Al, though, made the Rebels’ day at Bazinsky Field a lot easier than it could have been.

St. Al’s pitchers surrendered six walks and two hit batters, and the Flashes committed four errors behind them, helping stake Forest Hill to an early 8-0 lead. The Rebels tacked on seven more runs in the seventh inning to complete a 15-0 rout.

Warren Mason hit a grand slam for Class 5A Forest Hill (16-4) in the seventh inning, and Landford Porter added a solo shot in the second. James McCarter scattered seven hits, struck out five and walked none to earn the win.

&#8220Again, we beat ourselves. If you can’t throw strikes, you can’t win,” St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said. &#8220We did some good things, but we did more bad things than we did good.”

Forest Hill scored its first eight runs on only three hits – two of them infield singles.

An error, three walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly by Chris Deans put Forest Hill ahead 2-0 in the first inning. McCarter reached on a dropped third strike to lead off the second, then advanced around the bases on a stolen base and a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball. Porter finally got the Rebels’ first hit later in the second inning, a solo homer to right that made it 4-0.

Two more walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Forest Hill in the third, before Anthony Triplett legged out an infield single. Two runs scored on the play to put the Rebels ahead 6-0. A pair of errors on one play led to two more Forest Hill runs in the fourth inning and salted the game away.

&#8220I guarantee you it would have been a tight ballgame if we hadn’t gotten those easy runs early,” Forest Hill coach Tommy Groves said. &#8220Once we get on base, we do a good job of getting them in.”

St. Al hit the ball well in spots, but always right at a fielder or not often enough to put a rally together.

Sean Weaver went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles for the Flashes, but was stranded at second both times. St. Al (11-8) also hit into an inning-ending double play with two runners on in the first inning, and left runners in scoring position four times in all.

&#8220Some guys hit the ball, but up and down the lineup we’re not hitting the baseball,” Wilkerson said.