The bats finally got popping in a way that brought a smile to the face of St. Aloysius coach Clint Wilkerson Tuesday night.

The Flashes tuned up for Thursday’s critical clash with Natchez Catherdal by sweeping Pelahatchie 11-1 and 12-2 at Bazinsky Field.

“The guys got it done tonight,” Wilkerson said after the sweep, which moved the Flashes to 11-6 on the season.

“We had two gut-check practices after those last two losses and I think we got back to the way we were playing up until last weekend. We did a good job of hitting in key situations, which is something we want to do.”

St. Al finished with 11 hits in game two and was also able to get a complete game from first-time starter Johnathan Longmire.

“That was big because we wanted to save Andy (Wiles) and Blake (Tidwell) for Cathedral. Blake now has had a full week of rest. We now get to play championship baseball Thursday night, taking on a team that has given us our only division loss. We want payback,” Wilkerson said.

Not only did Longmire pitch an effective game after a shaky first two innings, he was dead-on at the plate, going 4-for-4 and driving in three runs.

“We’ve been taught to hit curve balls up the middle and that’s what I did,” Longmire said. “I was seeing bad in the first game and got maybe one hit. I was able to hit the ball good in the second game and help my team win.”

Pelahatchie (5-12, 0-8) hung tough through the first three innings in game two. The Chiefs managed to cut a 3-0 lead down to 3-2 in the third inning when Dustin Keen scored on a one-out grounder off Longmire.

“I was having trouble getting my fastball over the plate and I hung some,” Longmire added. “But later on, I calmed down and got my curve ball to fall for strikes.”

Longmire, a freshman, allowed just one infield hit in his final three innings of work.

In the meantime, the Flashes’ bats began heating up against Chiefs starter Scott Simpson.

Longmire took a ball up the middle in the bottom of the third to score Tidwell for a 4-2 lead.

Tidwell came back in the fourth with a two-out single to right, scoring Curtis Robertson and Pierson Waring for a 6-2 lead.

Longmire got his third hit in the fifth to start a three-run rally that was capped by an RBI hit from Marsh Willis and a sacrifice fly from Robertson.

Up 9-2, the Flashes finished off the Chiefs with three runs in the sixth. Lambert Culley led off with a double to right and Longmire followed with his fourth hit, knocking in Culley with his third RBI. Robertson then drove in Longmire with a hit to right for an 11-2 lead.

Robertson ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule, scoring on a Pelahatchie error.

In game one, Jordan Muirhead’s two-run single in the bottom of the fifth ended the game by the mercy rule at 11-1.

Muirhead led the Flashes with three hits and two RBIs. Culley had two hits.

Marsh Willis pitched four innings to grab the win. He allowed four hits and two walks, and struck out two.

Vicksburg 10, Forest Hill 0

Vicksburg High overcame a slow start to beat Forest Hill and clinch a playoff berth.

Jordan Henry went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Gerald Mims had an RBI double for the Gators (15-6), who blew open a close game with a seven-run sixth inning. They had five hits during the rally, including Mims’ double and a two-run single by Henry that made it 9-0. Henry eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-0.

Stanton Price finished a two-hitter in the bottom of the sixth to end the game by the mercy rule. Price walked three and struck out five.

Carlos Moncrief took the loss for Forest Hill. He allowed five runs, four hits and five walks while striking out eight in 5 1/3 innings.