PEARL — For the first time in more than three decades, St. Aloysius is a state baseball champion.

In front of a large, loud, partisan crowd at Trustmark Park Friday night, the Flashes beat West Union 13-2 to win the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 1A title. St. Al swept the best-of-three series after winning Game 1 Thursday afternoon.

It is the school’s first championship in baseball since taking the Class BB title in 1976. The 1975 squad won the Class B title. Neither classification exists anymore.

St. Al also made possible a first championship double-dip, joining Porters Chapel Academy as the first Warren County high schools to win baseball titles in the same season. PCA won the Mississippi Private School Association Class A championship Thursday.

“It feels great,” St. Al pitcher Ryno Martin-Nez said. “It’s special. All the work we put in paid off.”

About three-quarters of the estimated crowd of 1,200 wore St. Al’s colors. They rang cowbells, waved pom-poms and even banged Thundersticks left behind by Madison Central’s fans from a previous game.

On Thursday, St. Al supporters outnumbered West Union fans nearly 5-to-1. On Friday night, the ratio appeared to jump to 10-to-1. St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said the fan support has helped the team all season.

“It’s incredible. Words can’t explain that, as a coach, knowing you have that kind of support,” Wilkerson said. “To know how bad people want to win, that’s an awesome, awesome feeling.”

The state championship capped a long, successful run for the Flashes. They finished this season with a 28-4 record and lost only once in 11 playoff games. They’ve also won more than 100 games in the past five seasons, a span in which four players — Martin-Nez, Pierson Waring, Stephen Evans and Sean Weaver — have started nearly every game.

“We’ve been together so long, and to get it done finally is incredible,” Weaver said. “Coach Wilkerson has pushed us to be the best team we can be, and I can’t thank him enough.”

While this is St. Al’s first championship in 33 years, it might not be long before the school celebrates another. Weaver, first baseman Joseph Brown and outfielder Corey Jones are the only seniors on the roster, meaning all the pieces are in place for another strong season.

“They’re going to be really good,” Brown said.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com