From Sean P. Murphy.

Patience is a virtue, and the St. Aloysius Lady Flashes sure had some.

St. Al (3-1) took advantage of 17 Madison-St. Joseph walks, only allowed one ball out of the infield and got a superlative pitching effort from Carrie Hattaway to dispose of the Bruins 11-1 in a five-inning, mercy rule shortened game.

The victory is the third in a row and provides the Lady Flashes with plenty of momentum heading into Monday’s showdown with Cathedral.

&#8220Our attitudes are good and we are playing really well right now,” St. Al coach Gene Rogillio said. &#8220The older kids are trying to help the little kids and we have spent about 75 to 80 percent of our practices on fundamentals.”

The Lady Flashes committed five errors, but four of those came in one inning and no runs scored off any of the miscues. The only Bruins’ run came in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single from Karen McWilliams.

Hattaway pitched a complete game, allowed nine hits and struck out two. Best of all, she did not walk one batter.

Such was not the case for a trio of Bruins pitchers who battled control problems all night. Ashley Piazza led St. Al team with two hits, while Abby Arledge and Sara Howington each had a single. The Lady Flashes had the bases loaded in every inning and put the game away in the final two innings.

St. Al led 4-0 heading into the fourth. An RBI fielder’s choice by Catelyn Park, an RBI single by Howington and an RBI groundout by Emily Stewart led to a four-run inning and an 8-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, after the Bruins had scored their only run, Madison-St. Joe pitchers walked six of seven batters faced, including the last four without a strike being thrown.

Park, Howington and Hattaway each had an RBI walk in the inning.

&#8220They were having trouble throwing strikes,” Rogillio said. &#8220I know that our girls want to swing, but it was like I told our last batter, ‘if you get a walk here, we win the ballgame.’”.

St. Al scored two runs in the first on a pair of RBI fielder’s choices by Emily Stewart and Taylor Ann Hasty. Piazza singled in the second to drive in Arledge as the Lady Flashes took a 3-0 lead after the first inning. An RBI walk by Arledge in the third made the score 4-0.

Ashley Tubertini singled twice and doubled for the Bruins.