On the bright side, the St. Aloysius Flashes could look at the box score from Game 1 of their playoff series against Central Private and figure out exactly what went wrong. Correcting the mistakes that led to an 8-4 loss shouldn’t be a difficult fix.

On the not-so-bright side, they no longer have any margin for error.

The Flashes (17-3) will go to Baker, La., on Thursday needing to beat Central Private (18-10) twice to stay alive in the MAIS Class AAA baseball playoffs. Game 2 of the best-of-three series will begin at 4:30 p.m., and Game 3 will be played immediately afterward if necessary.

“You never want to lose Game 1,” St. Al coach Sid Naron said. “But at the same time, the way we match up with them, I feel like our pitching depth matches up fairly well. But, again, if we don’t swing the bat better it may be the end of the road.”

St. Al swung the bat fairly well in Game 1, just not when it really mattered.

The Flashes had runners on in every inning, but stranded five in the last four innings as they tried to come back from a 6-2 deficit. One runner was picked off of first base, and they also hit into a game-ending double play.

Central Private pitcher Jace Pendarvis, a University of New Orleans commit, allowed four runs, four hits and eight walks but sidestepped all of that trouble to throw a complete game. It took him 110 pitches to do it, however, which means he’ll be unavailable for Thursday’s potential doubleheader because of MAIS rules regarding pitch counts.

Naron said having some success against the Rebels’ ace was a confidence-booster for the rest of the series.

“I feel like offensively we’ll pick it up with what they’ll be throwing in comparison the next two games,” Naron said.

Naron also felt that the Flashes have an advantage with their own pitching depth. Several pitchers, such as Lane Hubbard, Josh Collins and Thomas Trichell have all had quality starts this season. Ace Tyler Breithaupt threw 98 pitches in 6 1/3 innings on Monday and will not be available on Thursday.

The key for St. Al’s pitchers will be avoiding the big inning that sunk them in Game 1. Breithaupt allowed five of Central Private’s eight runs in the third inning. Pendarvis — who was 3-for-4 with five RBIs in the game — hit a two-run double and Nick Weaver followed with a long home into the trees beyond the left center field fence for a 6-2 lead.

Breithaupt retired 12 of the next 13 batters after Weaver’s homer, but the four-run deficit was too much to overcome. The Rebels tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh inning against a tiring Breithaupt to make it 8-4.

“You take that one inning out of the ballgame and we’re winning or right in the ballgame,” Naron said. “It’s playoff baseball. Everybody’s 0-0 and everybody’s hungry. I feel like our guys will respond on Thursday. We’ve just got to clean a couple of things up over the next two days and I like our chances. That’s a tough place to play, 2 ½ hours on the road, but I feel like our guys will respond.”

MAIS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
St. Al vs. Central Private
Game 1: Central Private 8, St. Al 4
Game 2: Thursday, 4:30 p.m., at Central Private
Game 3: Thursday, 7 p.m., at Central Private (if necessary)