Looking back, the tone for St. Aloysius’ season might have been set in the very first game.

Trailing 2-1 to Madison-St. Joseph entering the sixth inning, the Flashes scored three runs to take the lead and went on to win 5-3.

Since then, they’ve developed a flair for the dramatic. Seven of their 11 wins have come when scoring the winning run in the fifth inning or later. They did it twice in a play-in round sweep of Ethel last week.

The ability to overcome almost any deficit has given the Flashes plenty of confidence as they head into a first-round series with Stringer beginning Tuesday night.

“The teams that always make the runs are the teams that have that mentality. There has to be some part of you as a group that says, ‘Hey, we’re not out of this,’” St. Al coach Steve Hancock said. “We’ve shown an ability to hang in there. The road’s going to get a lot tougher now.”

St. Al’s fetish for comebacks hasn’t been limited to scoring single runs to eke out a tight game.

It scored 10 runs in the sixth inning to wipe out a six-run deficit and beat St. Andrew’s 11-7 on April 18. On Thursday night, it scored seven times in the top of the seventh to take Game 1 of the playoff series with Ethel, 9-8.

The Flashes followed up the Ethel win with another comeback on Friday night. They scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to win 4-1.

The Flashes also beat Pearl on April 11 by scoring a total of five runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

“I think now, we get down a little bit and there’s no quit in this team. We think let’s scratch a couple of runs and maybe we’ll have a big inning out of it,” St. Al infielder Lee Simpson said.

The secret behind the comebacks, Hancock said, has been an ability to hold the line after falling behind early, and getting contributions from a number of players.

In the Ethel series, infielder Lane Hynum made several outstanding defensive plays to rob hits and keep the game from getting even further out of hand.

At the plate, it was No. 6 hitter Simpson that brought in the tying run in Game 2 with a well-placed grounder that resulted in an error. No. 7 hitter George Tzotzolas followed with a two-run single to give St. Al the lead, and No. 8 hitter Josh Brown worked a bases-loaded walk.

“We’re not relying on one guy,” Hancock said.

Pitching depth has also been an asset. Starters Will Pierce and Derek Dolan were shaky in both games and pulled early. Relievers Rett Verhine, Brown and Connor Smith combined to throw 8 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

St. Al’s bullpen allowed just three hits and five walks in the series. Ethel didn’t score after the fourth inning of either game.

Earlier in the week, shortstop Landon Middleton got a rare appearance on the mound and lasted 5 1/3 innings in a 14-9 win over Vicksburg.

Middleton’s outing was nothing special — he gave up eight runs on eight hits — but he ate enough innings to save some arms for Ethel.

“I think depth is our strength,” Hancock said. “We don’t have the 85-plus (mph) arms all over the field. But we do have some guys who will compete and get after you, and they don’t pitch out of fear.”