The end of St. Al’s season started with an innocent infield single in the hole between third and short.

The next paper cut was a controversial play at the plate, followed by a bunt single, a missed diving catch that resulted in a triple, and a string of pop-ups and easy grounders.

Each tiny wound stung more and more, until the Flashes were hurt too badly to recover. Their season came to a screeching stop Saturday at Bazinsky Field with a 6-2 loss to Stringer in Game 3 of a first-round Class 1A playoff series, just 48 hours after they’d played their best game of the year.

Stringer (18-9) won the last two games of the series, holding the Flashes to four runs in the process — St. Al scored nine in winning Game 1 — and advanced to play either Sacred Heart or Nanih Waiya next weekend.

“That’s one of those things that’s hard to explain. The effort was there, the desire was there. We were up in the dugout, we played hard. Things don’t fall your way sometimes,” an emotional St. Al coach Derrik Boland said. “That’s the best game in the world to teach you about how life goes.”

St. Al (14-10) used two walks and an error to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but did not have a hit until Drake Dorbeck bounced a one-out single through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the sixth.

Stringer coach Wade Weathers yanked starting pitcher Mason Avary after only three batters. Reliever Bailey Sullivan, a side-armer, kept the Flashes off-balance all night. Sullivan only had two strikeouts, but induced three double play balls.

“They’re an excellent fastball-hitting team, and I couldn’t continue to have (Avary) walk people. They’re the best hitting team we’ve seen all year,” Weathers said. “That was the plan, if he couldn’t throw strikes, if we saw trouble, it’s the end of the road. It’s the last game. We had all hands on deck. (Sullivan) was able to come in and stop the bleeding.”

Two of St. Al’s double plays were the result of great defensive efforts by the Red Devils. Sullivan snagged a line drive and doubled up Wailes Kemp at first in the fourth inning, and in the seventh second baseman Trenton Stringer handled an in-between hop to start a 6-4-3 double play that nipped St. Al’s last threat in the bud.

It was the exact opposite of a big second inning that propelled Stringer into the lead and, ultimately, to victory.

Sullivan led off the second inning with a grounder in the hole to short that was knocked down by St. Al’s Landon Middleton, who had no play. A hit batter and another bouncing single to right by Delayne Herrington loaded the bases and set the stage for a play that changed the momentum of the game.

Stringer’s Ryan Dominguez broke for home as Zach Tew squared up for a suicide squeeze bunt. Tew missed the bunt, and his momentum carried him across the plate. St. Al catcher Ben Welp caught the outside pitch, but collided with Tew as he reached back across the plate to tag Dominguez.

No interference was called on the play, Dominguez was safe, and Stringer tied the game. A moment later, Tew successfully laid down a bunt that he beat out for an RBI single and a 2-1 lead.

“They (umpires) said they didn’t see it,” Boland said of the non-call on Dominguez. “How can you not see that? What are you paying attention to? My guy gets caught up in the guy’s legs. It killed momentum we had from the first inning.”

The play at the plate hurt the Flashes, but not as much as another less-controversial one a moment later.

After Trenton Stringer singled to once again load the bases, Will Hill hit a sinking liner to center field. St. Al’s Connor Smith dove for it and missed, allowing the ball to skip away behind him. Three runs scored as Hill wound up on third base with a triple, and suddenly Stringer was ahead 5-1.

The Red Devils tacked on another run on an RBI single by Seth Walters in the third inning, and St. Al was unable to put any rallies of its own together until the sixth.

The Flashes put runners at first and second with one out, and Kemp doubled off the wall in left field. It missed being a home run by about three feet, and ended up scoring only one run. Jacob Breeden popped out to end the inning, and St. Al’s best chance to get back in the game ended in a fizzle.

This was the second consecutive season that St. Al won its division, only to lose its first playoff series to Stringer. Dorbeck, who is one of seven regular starters returning next season, said the bitter end will be fuel for next year.

“There’s going to be a sour taste in our mouth for a year,” Dorbeck said.