After three or four relatively boring innings, things got really interesting late in Tuesday’s baseball game between St. Aloysius and Riverfield Academy.

Riverfield’s Ty Skeldon singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, and the Raiders sidestepped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the inning to beat St. Al 6-5 in a key MAIS District 3-AAA game at Bazinsky Field.

The victory moved Riverfield (13-0, 7-0 District 3-AAA) into sole possession of first place in the district. They’ll play again Friday in Rayville, La. St. Al (10-5, 6-1) can still move back into a first-place tie by beating the Raiders in the rematch.

Each team has three district games remaining. If there is a tie for first place at the end of the regular season, the teams involved will settle it in a one-game playoff.

“It’s still in front of us. We win Friday and the division championship is still there for us to take. We’ve got to go to their place and do it,” St. Al coach Sid Naron said.

St. Al lost its second game in a row after winning the previous six. It rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the fifth inning to tie the game at 5 on a two-run triple by Thomas Phillips in the bottom of the sixth.

Riverfield, however, drew a pair of walks to put runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh. Skeldon delivered a single to left field and Hayden Adams scored ahead of the throw home to give the Raiders a 6-5 lead.

Skeldon finished the game with two hits, including a double. Nick Moore was 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Raiders, and Jackson Shelton also was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

“As a whole, I thought we (pitched) it really well. We had a couple of different mishaps defensively. We had some opportunities offensively. But this is baseball. Both teams went back and forth. It was a game where it was which team was going to get the timely hit and we just didn’t. That’s part of the game.”

St. Al had a golden opportunity to tie or win the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Kieran Theriot led off with a triple, then Ethan Parmegiani followed with a walk and courtesy runner Wes Warnock stole second base. James Trichell hit a grounder to the shortstop Adams, who held the runners in place before throwing to first for the first out of the inning.

After another walk loaded the bases, Brandon Steed hit another grounder to Adams. The shortstop fired home this time to get the force out. Thomas Trichell then struck out to end the game.

Theriot was 4-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored for St. Al. Thomas Phillips was 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and one run scored.

“They brought the infield in and their guy made some good pitches and got out of it. It is what it is,” Naron said. “We practice those things all the time. Sometimes in those situations you get out of the plan and I thought we did that somewhat. But I have a lot of confidence in those guys. The same guys that struggled in that situation will bounce back. I have no doubt about that.”

Park Place 15, Porter’s Chapel 7
Michael Tod Andrews went 3-for-4 and scored two runs, but Porter’s Chapel Academy let a big early lead slip away and lost to Park Place Christian Academy on Tuesday.

Cole Pittman and Jake Arias each had RBI singles as PCA (6-10, 2-5 District 3-AAA) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Park Place scored in every inning, however, to overtake the Eagles. The Crusaders scored four times in the third inning and seven times in the sixth.

Austin Massey led Park Place with three hits. Brady Cruthirds had two hits, including a double, drove in two runs and scored four. Connor Stewart also was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

PCA committed eight errors, and its pitchers walked eight batters.
Park Place pitcher Zac Sewall allowed seven runs — only four earned — and eight hits in six innings, but struck out 14 batters.

The Eagles and Crusaders will play again Friday at 6 p.m. at Porter’s Chapel.

Ridgeland 13, Vicksburg 1
Kolby Smith had seven strikeouts and did not allow a hit in four innings pitched, Branson Tadlock doubled, drove in three runs and scored twice, and Ridgeland (13-9, 6-1 MHSAA Region 4-5A) completed a season series sweep of Vicksburg High (6-9, 1-5) with a five-inning run-rule victory.

Tadlock drove in two runs with a double during a seven-run rally in the bottom of the first inning that blew the game open early. Yamarus Banks followed with another RBI double to give the Titans a 4-0 lead.

Vicksburg’s only run came in the top of the fifth inning when Rashad Flagg scored on a sacrifice fly by Kendrick Bershell. Flagg had led off with a single for the Gators’ first hit.