[02/17/02]St. Aloysius shook off its long offseason Saturday afternoon with a performance worthy of a team in mid-season form.

Aaron George twirled a four-hit shutout and Blake Warnock just missed hitting for the cycle as the Flashes (1-0) battered three St. Andrew’s pitchers for 10 hits in beating last year’s Class 2A South State champion Saints, 7-0, at Bazinsky Field.

“We worked six days a week since we were able to start practice and busted our tails,” said St. Al coach Joe Graves, whose team made it to the 1A South State series last year. “We’ve worked harder in these last three or four weeks than any team I’ve had in about the last six years.

“For an opening game, we looked like we were just in the playoffs.”

George, on a pitch-count of 95, struck out four and faced danger only one time. In the top of the third, St. Andrew’s got singles from their Nos. 9 and 1 hitters, setting up the heart of the order with no outs.

George fanned Hewitt Jones, then got Trea Brown to fly to left and Abram Orlansky to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

“He threw well, and we have a ton of new faces in the lineup,” said St. Andrew’s coach Mark Fanning, whose team lost to Mooreville in the third game of the state championship series last year. “We have seven new people out there. It’s just going to take some time getting some games under our belt.”

While George and a near-flawless St. Al defense kept the Saints at bay St. Al had only one error late in the game the Flashes’ offense dominated.

Warnock came within a double of hitting for the cycle, scored three runs and had an RBI as St. Al scored two in the first, three in the second and single runs in the fourth and fifth.

“I knew about it,” Warnock said of the cycle. “I heard some people in the stands say, hit a double.’ ”

Warnock grounded into a fielder’s choice, instead, but it took little away from the offense.

Jason Brown had two singles and two RBIs, while Alex Frisbee had a pair of singles and a double and Miles Ashley had a double.

Warnock’s RBI triple in the second gave the Flashes a 3-0 lead. He then scored on a passed ball and Amborn, who had reached on an error, scored from second on a two-base throwing error for a 5-0 lead after two innings.

“That makes things a lot easier when you have a lead,” George said. “It takes a lot of stress off.”

Warnock’s solo home run in the fourth upped the lead to 6-0 and Frisbee scored on Ashley’s fly out in the fifth for the 7-0 lead.

“We shut down a quality ballclub today,” Graves said. “They were overwhelmed. They didn’t know what to think. They lost in the state championship by one run last year and we come in and make them look rough.”

The Flashes will be home again Monday to face Lanier at 4 p.m. at Bazinsky Field.