With a showdown with Bogue Chitto looming, the St. Aloysius Lady Flashes fast-pitch softball team was hoping for a warmup against rival Natchez Cathedral.

It took a while, but St. Al was able to beat Cathedral 12-2 in six-innings.

&#8220It took a while for our bats to get going,” Kerut said. &#8220In the beginning of the season, we were really hitting well, then we went into a little funk. Maybe this will get us going again. We need it, we have a big game tomorrow.”

Kerut dominated from the start on the mound. She allowed a one-out single to Megan Whittington in the first inning, then retired 14 straight Lady Irish before running into a small jam in the sixth. The reigning Vicksburg Post Softball Player of the Year allowed two runs on four hits and struck out 11.

Kerut ended the game in the bottom of the sixth with a bases-clearing triple for the 12-2 score. It was the the final three runs of a six-run sixth inning and the closing flurry in a late-game St. Al surge.

Cathedral pitcher Mae Durkin kept St. Al off-balance with a slower-than-average fastball. She retired the first five batters she and had a chance to get out of the second inning unscathed with a looping pop fly from Taylor George, which was dropped allowing George to reach first. A walk and fielder’s choice loaded the bases for Hannah Barrett, who delivered a two-RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Flashes went quietly in the third, but scored a run in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Three straight singles by Barrett, Stephanie Gwin and Catelyn Park in the fifth coupled with an error led to three runs and a 6-0 lead.

Cathedral broke through in the sixth. Ginny Daggett led off the inning with a double and scored on Kalin Kirkwood’s triple. Kirkwood scored on a Whittington single to cut the deficit to 6-2.

In the bottom of the inning, George, Sara Howington, Blair Tillman, Barrett and Park all singled, and Gwin drew a walk that led to three runs and left the bases loaded with no outs for Kerut.

Her driving shot to right centerfield bounced against the fence allowing three runs to score.