Flashes beat Vicksburg with another seventh-inning rally

Published 10:55 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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St. Aloysius' Keller Bradley is safe at third base after getting into a rundown, as Vicksburg High infielders Tyler Carter (24) and Kaleb Doss look on. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Keller Bradley slides safely back into first base on a pickoff attempt against Vicksburg High. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Chris Green runs to first base after hitting a ground ball Tuesday against St. Aloysius. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius catcher Pierson Smith can't hang on to the ball as Vicksburg's Peyton Calvin bats in the first inning of Tuesday's game at Showers Field. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Kaleb Doss (8) slides across home plate to score a run during Tuesday's game against St. Aloysius. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Evan Mallard scores a run Tuesday against Vicksburg High. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High third baseman Kealon Bass snags a foul ball during Tuesday's game against St. Aloysius. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Carson Smith pitches against Vicksburg High. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Tyler Carter pitches against St. Aloysius. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High baseball head coach Kent Willis looks toward the dugout during Tuesday's game against St. Aloysius. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The St. Aloysius Flashes overcame a three-run deficit and scored twice in the seventh inning to win on Tuesday.

Of course they did. That’s sort of their thing now.

Sadler Lambiotte scored the tying run on a wild pitch, Robert Lee came across on a ground out by Emerson Blackburn to give St. Al the lead, and then Keller Bradley closed the door with a 1-2-3 inning as the Flashes beat Vicksburg High 9-8.

It was the third game in a row that St. Al (5-6) has won by scoring the winning run in the seventh inning.

“Once it gets toward the end and we’re down a little bit, I know that we can come back. I have faith in my guys that we can do it,” Bradley said. “I knew (Lambiotte) was scoring as soon as it hit him because that’s what happened last game.”

Vicksburg (3-9) lost its fifth game in a row. It only scored one run in the last four innings after racing out to a 7-4 lead through three.

The one run came in the bottom of the sixth, when Pat Gray Jr. singled through the right side to put the Gators ahead 8-7. They could not hold on, though.

“You definitely want to come out with a win, but you’ve got to give credit to the other team as well. They came out and did what they had to do,” Vicksburg coach Kent Willis said. “They put the ball in play. We came up and came up and came up short. I like the way they went out and fought. At the same time, that’s the way it falls sometimes.”

Vicksburg committed four errors in the game, including one each in the fifth and sixth innings that led to two runs. A passed ball brought in another run.

In the top of the seventh, both Lambiotte and Lee were hit by pitches and moved into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base, respectively. Lambiotte scored the tying run on a wild pitch, and Lee raced home on Blackburn’s ground out to second.

“This last inning was pretty much Baseball 101 — get a runner on, get him over and hit him in, and it didn’t take much to drive him in,” St. Al coach Jay Harper said.

Bradley struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh, then got Allan Allen to fly out to left to end the game.

“I knew it was the bottom of that line-up so I was trying to work outside and get a few K’s. But mainly trying to throw strikes and not walk anybody,” Bradley said.

Bradley had four strikeouts in two innings of relief to earn the win. At the plate, he was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Lee went 2-for-3 as well, with a double, triple and three runs scored. Blackburn and Carson Smith had two RBIs apiece.

For Vicksburg, Braylon Green was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Gray had two RBIs, and Tyler Carter scored twice.

Carter also pitched five innings of relief, but took the loss. He had three strikeouts.

St. Al went 2-0 during its spring break week and planned to take off until Sunday. It won’t play again until March 19, when it faces Adams County Christian School in the MAIS District 4-5A opener at Bazinsky Field.

Vicksburg still has one game left this week, Wednesday at 4 p.m. at home against Manchester Academy. It’ll be the third time the teams have played this season.

After that, the Gators begin MHSAA Region 2-6A play on March 19 at Ridgeland.

“We’ve had some injuries we weren’t counting on, we’ve had some kids to transfer out. But at the same time we’re still mentally into everything,” Willis said. “District play is what it’s all about. We’re getting everything set to be there and still juggling our offensive line-up. We’re just trying to get the puzzle together where they better fit going into district play.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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