St. Aloysius’ Candace Park sits near home plate waiting for a call from the umpire during the Lady Flashes’ 3-1 win over Bogue Chitto on Monday. (Jenny SevcikThe Vicksburg Post)

[3/23/04]Still on Cloud Nine after their upset win over Class 5A Warren Central on Saturday, St. Aloysius (6-3, 3-2 in Division 7-1A/2A) floated past Bogue Chitto 3-1 on Monday at Bazinsky Field.

“We’re still not hitting like we’re going to have to,” St. Al coach Gene Rogillio said. “But at least tonight we got up there and hit the ball.”

The Lady Flashes took advantage of three Bogue Chitto errors and a few timely walks to overcome a strong pitching performance by Bogue Chitto’s Meleah Brown.

Brown recorded eight strikeouts and allowed only one earned run on two hits in six innings.

The Lady Flashes’ first hit came in the third inning, when Laura Beth Lyons doubled with one out. She was followed by Sarah Franco, who walked. Sarah Kerut then reached on an error to score Lyons, and Franco scored one batter later on Candace Park’s single.

“We put the bat on the ball,” Rogillio said. “We got two or three good hits tonight.”

Bogue Chitto’s only run was unearned, and the Lady Bobcats managed only two hits. The first was Kayla Smith’s base hit in the first, and the other was Brown’s RBI single in the fourth.

The Lady Flashes also were helped by Lyons’ performance on the mound. She pitched a complete game, striking out nine and walking only two.

“LB does a good job on the mound for us,” Rogillio said. “Ain’t no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Lyons also helped St. Al in the Lady Vikes Invitational on Saturday at Warren Central, pitching the Lady Flashes into the final game.

The Lady Flashes lost in the championship, but the game has caused a stir around St. Aloysius with the win over WC.

Lyons and WC pitcher Lauren Anderson battled for seven scoreless innings in the semifinal game before the Lady Flashes finally pushed a run over in the bottom of the eighth inning.

St. Al had never beaten crosstown rival Warren Central in a fast-pitch contest before Saturday, but Rogillio says he doesn’t plan to dwell on the big victory.

“It’s always nice to win like that, but that’s history,” he said. “You can learn from it and the mistakes you made, but you can’t live in it.”

Winning a game in which they were the clear underdogs may not have had a big effect on St. Al’s game plan, but it certainly helped the players’ outlook heading into future games.

“I think it helped our confidence a lot, as a team,” Lyons said. “We came out here tonight knowing we could win.”

That is a mindset that the Lady Flashes will need heading into the final two weeks of the season.

Seven of their last eight games are division games.

But Rogillio maintains that, though it gave them a boost, he hopes their heads will come down out of the clouds to focus on future games.

“I think it helped the kids a lot,” Rogillio said. “It helped them believe in themselves a lot more. But like I said, it’s history.”

WC 6, Cleveland 1

Warren Central went scoreless in the first three innings before plating six runs in the final four innings to outlast Cleveland on Monday.

Lauren Anderson smacked a bases-clearing double in the seventh to break open a close game. Anderson had two hits on the night, while Alicia Wright and Kristen Ashley each had two hits. Ashley contributed three RBIs.

Anderson also took the victory on the mound. She pitched seven innings, allowed one run on seven hits and struck out nine.

“We started out slow with our hitting,” WC coach Lucy Young said. “In the fourth inning, we adjusted our stance against a good pitcher.”