All the elements that made St. Al such a force last season returned with a vengeance in a 12-2 victory over Class 2A opponent Mize at Bazinsky Park on Friday.

The Flashes (14-6) got a stellar two-hit outing from first-time starter Reed Evans, who threw four stellar innings, and reliever Josh Eargle, who retired the order 1-2-3 in the fifth.

Defensively, the Flashes committed just two errors and walked only one batter.

“We played sharp,” St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said. “We had some young guys throwing and got some good innings out of them. I wished we would have taken advantage of some RBI situations. We’ve got to play better in the playoffs, but not a bad win.”

At the plate, the Flashes hung 12 runs off 11 hits on the board, propelled by perfect performances by Blake Haygood and Brendan Beesley.

Haygood went 3-for 3 with three runs scored, while Beesley went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs.

But both realize that the Flashes will have to bring their A-game against first-round opponent Edinburg and their ace pitcher, Mitchell Wooten. Wooten carries a 0.83 ERA and has yielded just 12 hits in 11 outings.

“I felt like I was seeing the ball good tonight,” Beesley said. “I feel like we’ve got to lock in and not miss pitches early in the count. We’ve faced really good pitching and that’s why we play the schedule we play.”

A new lighter bat helped Haygood snap out of his mini-funk in the past few games.

“We hope that we can get this to carry over,” Haygood said. “Edinburg has got this guy, Mitchell Wooten, who throws 90-plus mph and who will be the best pitcher we’ve seen all year. We’ve got to get our focus up.”

Friday marked the return of senior Ryno Martin-Nez, who had a setback a few weeks ago with his surgically repaired knee. Martin-Nez said it was just a tweak and he returned to the lineup as a designated hitter and walked twice.

The Flashes trailed 1-0 in the first after an error allowed Christopher Sullivan to reach and Ricky Hancock doubled him home.

But the Flashes retaliated in the bottom of the first, as Regan Nosser drove in Evans and Haygood off a double. Pierson Waring’s RBI groundout in the second and an Evans’ score off a passed ball in the third put St. Al up 4-1 at the end of three.

St. Al struck for four in the fourth, propelled by a two-RBI single by Evans that he blasted through the gap and an RBI groundout by Nosser.

The Flashes ended the contest with a four-run fifth as an RBI single by Haygood, a sacrifice fly by Stephen Evans and an error accounted for the scoring.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com