PEARL — Good defense can lead a team to a championship and conversely a bad defense can cost you one. The latter cost West Union in Game 1 of the Class 1A state championship series Thursday afternoon at Trustmark Park.

The Eagles (18-13) committed three costly errors and one mental breakdown and those miscues accounted for five of St. Aloysius’ six runs in a 6-0 win. The Flashes (27-4) who played error-free ball, need just one more win to cinch the series and claim the school’s first state championship in baseball since 1976.

For West Union coach Ashley Russell, he’s hoping his Eagles can play better tonight in Game 2 when the series resumes at Trustmark Park.

“We’ve got to make plays and our pitchers have to throw strikes. Our pitcher (Devin Brock) battled and got us a chance to stay in the game. But that overthrow of third base and then the line-drive error over the middle gave them runs. That killed us,” Russell said.

Then there was an odd play that highlighted St. Al’s decisive four-run third inning. With two runs already in, thanks to an infield boot at second base, St. Al’s Joseph Brown faced a one-out, bases-loaded situation.

Brown took a 2-1 offering from Brock and drove it to the right side, deep enough to score Stephen Evans’ courtesy runner Luke Burnett. Sean Weaver, though, who was on second, never stopped.

“I really think the first baseman (Hunter McQuarry) thought the inning was over. I looked back and saw Sean reading it the whole way. The guy never looked back to the plate,” Brown said.

Weaver said he never saw McQuarry turn his back, he just saw a wave home from third base coach Trey Clark.

“I had no idea he had turned his back to us. I just saw the wave home and kept running. I knew it was a groundball to second and when I saw the sign, I kept going.”

Weaver rolled home with the inning’s fourth run and it gave St. Al a comfortable 4-0 lead. It also gave Brown the distinction of having a two-RBI groundout.

“I’ve never done that, two RBIs on a grounder,” Brown said.

West Union helped out the Flashes again in the fifth. A line drive boot by the shortstop put two on with one out. Following a Pierson Waring hit which resulted in a throwout at the plate, Blake Haygood came back to draw the fifth walk from Brock. After a 1-0 pitch to Ryno Martin-Nez, West Union catcher Caleb English tried to throw back to third to catch Nosser, but air-mailed the throw into left. Nosser and Waring scored and the Flashers were now up 6-0.