Cathedral High sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning against Richland here Friday and only six made contact. But by the time the inning was completed, the Green Wave led 9-0 before coasting to a 12-2 win in its Division 6-2A opener.

Drawing walks in the first inning were Ben Eidt, Stephen Edwards twice, Charlie Norris, Stephen Bush, Josh Torrey and Jim Sandel.

Eidt was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat in the ining, which sent starting pitcher Brian Barley to the dugout and brought in Tory Adams.

Norris singled in his second at bat, while Jeremi Hardy delivered his first of three singles on the night.

Sacrifice flys by Casey Rodgers and Patrick Beasley accounted for two of the nine runs.

Cathedral would not score again until the fourth inning when Torrey doubled, Beasley walked and Hardy singled.

&uot;He wasn’t throwing that fast, so I moved up in the box,&uot; Hardy said. &uot;I was just seeing it good.&uot;

The Green Wave ended the game by the 10-run rule in the fifth as Sandel reached on an error, Edwards walked, Norris singled and advanced on a wild throw.

Rodgers then hit a grounder to second base that was misplayed to end the game.

Norris started for Cathedral and after walking two and allowing a single in the fisrt inning, struck out eight and allowed two hits.

Richland’s Ryan Hampton reached on an error and scored on a single by Randy White in the third and an RBI single by Chas Ball accounted for Richland’s other run.

&uot;I didn’t start getting warmed up until after the first inning,&uot; Norris said. &uot;When we got the big lead I was able to relax. I was just trying throwing strikes after that.&uot;

&uot;I was glad to see Charlie throw his curve effectively,&uot; said Cathedral coach Ken Beesley. &uot;As for our bats, when you get a lead like that it’s easy to relax. I would like to have seen us hit the ball better, but I’m gald to get that first district win.&uot;

Cathedral, 7-5, meets Natchez today in a junior varsity game at 11 a.m., followed by a varsity game.

The Green Wave return to district play Tuesday at Wesson. That game time has been changed to 5 p.m. for junior varsity and 7 p.m. for varsity because Wesson has lights.

Richland, which defeated Bailey for its only win of the season earlier, fell to 0-2 in division play.

Cathedral won the junior varsity game 10-9.