St. Aloysius starting pitcher Will Pierce did a pretty good job containing Bogue Chitto’s offense Tuesday night. It didn’t much matter though, as the Flashes helped their opponent enough in a 4-1 loss at Bazinsky Field.

Pierce threw 6 1/3 innings to earn the loss for the Flashes (4-5, 0-1 Division 7-1A), but his command on the mound was the reason his team was able to keep within striking distance. He struck out 13 batters, walked four, and gave up one earned run.

“I thought he pitched his butt off, to be honest with you,” St. Aloysius coach Steve Hancock said. “He threw real well. He had really good command with his fastball and his breaking ball. He threw some really nice change-ups in there as well.”

The Flashes were unable to capitalize on Pierce’s solid pitching performance, giving up three unearned runs in defeat.

Bogue Chitto struck first in the top of the first inning after two throwing errors led to a run. After that, the two teams pretty much traded outs with each other until the fifth inning.

After the Bobcats put runners at first and third, St. Al first baseman Drake Dorbeck knocked down a ground ball near the foul line that was called fair. Dorbeck was unable to snag the loose ball in his glove to make the out, and Bogue Chitto scored to up its lead to 2-0.

It was the kind of miscue that plagued St. Al all night.

“We didn’t do what we had to do to win. We had four or five opportunities and couldn’t make them,” Hancock said. “From a defensive standpoint, that’s something that we’ve done a good job of up to this point.”

The Bobcats tacked on another run to make it 3-0 before St. Al was finally able to break its goose egg. Lane Hynum was hit by a pitch to start the sixth before swiping second and third base on the same passed ball that Bogue Chitto catcher Joey Elliot couldn’t corral. Hynum scored on a sacrifice fly by Pierce to close the gap to 3-1, but St. Al’s offensive ineptitude continued and it was unable to get any closer.

The Flashes only had four hits in the game. Two of those were by Lee Simpson. Bogue Chitto pitcher Nick Parker only needed 88 pitches to throw a complete game. He walked two batters and struck out one.

Parker also went 2-for-3 with an RBI on the offensive side.

“Something would happen, we’d kick a ball, throw one in the dirt, and next thing you know they’ve scored a run,” Hancock said. “They manufactured runs and we gave them plenty of opportunities to do that.”