PEARL — Since they could barely seem to hit the ball all afternoon anyway, it made perfect sense that that was exactly how the St. Aloysius Flashes won on Friday.

Ethan Parmegiani drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth inning to bring in the game’s only run — and cap an inning in which no balls were hit out of the infield — as St. Al gritted out a 1-0 win over Park Place Christian Academy.

The Flashes used two infield hits, a fielding error and Parmegiani’s walk to finally break the ice on a day when pitchers reined supreme.

“I was telling our coaches as the sixth, seventh and eighth were rolling along that it was not going to be a double that wins the game. It’s going to be off an error or a swinging bunt, and that’s how that inning started,” St. Al coach Sid Naron said. “That’s the kind of offense we are. We’re not going to bang the ball around the yard. We’re a team that tries to put pressure on the defense. I think that’s another reason we struggled early. They made some plays and stymied our offense. Hats off to them.”

St. Al (11-0, 4-0 District 3-AAA) ran its winning streak to 11 games and remained undefeated in district play by winning its first true road game of the season. Its first 10 games had all been played either at Bazinsky Field or Porter’s Chapel Academy in Vicksburg.

St. Al will go on the road again on Monday to play Hillcrest Christian, and then three of its next four games after that are back at Bazinsky Field.

“I knew going on the road was going to be a challenge, regardless of where and who. I was proud of our guys to stay in the game. And getting a good pitching effort was key, because offensively we were totally out of whack,” Naron said. “This win will make us stronger, having been in a tight game.”

St. Al had six hits and runners on base in six of the eight innings Friday, but could never finish a rally. It hit into inning-ending double plays in the first and second innings, and only got one runner past second base before scoring in the eighth.

Park Place pitcher Harrison Green walked two batters and struck out five in 7 2/3 innings, and when he did finally open the door a crack it was hardly his fault.

Adam Francisco reached on a bunt single and Thomas Phillips a slow swinging bunt down the third base line. Josh Collins followed with a grounder in the hole between second and third that Park Place’s Brady Cruthirds couldn’t backhand, to load the bases with one out in the top of the eighth.

Green gave way to reliever Zach Sewall at that point, and Parmegiani was next up to the play.

Parmegiani took a low 2-1 fastball for ball three, but the umpire called it ball four. After a brief moment of confusion, Park Place catcher Seth Jobe jumped up and tagged Francisco just before he reached home plate. The mistake was quickly caught, however, and Francisco was allowed to return to third.

Parmegiani swung through a fastball on the next pitch before watching another one come in low to finally earn his walk and let Francisco cross the plate in freedom.

“Prior to the pitch, the umpire called out ‘3-1’ and it was actually 2-1. I sent the runner to go on home because the umpire pointed to first base. The umpire had the wrong call behind the plate. That was why it just went back to a 3-1 count,” Naron said.

Although they’d put a run on the board at last, the drama was far from over for the Flashes. Park Place (2-6, 0-2) put runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Collins, however, got Daniel Ridgway to hit a weak pop up that James Trichell caught on the infield dirt behind first base, and the Flashes were able to celebrate a difficult victory.

“It was nerve-wracking during the game,” Collins said, before adding with a grin, “but after the game it’s the best feeling in the world.”

Collins pitched a complete-game shutout. He held the Crusaders to four hits — two of which were infield singles — walked one batter and hit three. He had five strikeouts and only needed 95 pitches to get through his gem.

“That’s a senior. Josh is not a guy that’s going to wow or flash you, but he’s going to grind it out no matter where you put him in the lineup, on the mound or in the field. That outing is just what was called for,” Naron said. “That’s the reason we held him out (earlier in the week). We knew having to go on the road that he could handle it, and he lived up to it.”