JACKSON – St. Andrews took advantage of Cathedral miscues for a big first inning and held off a Green Wave rally in the seventh inning for an 11-8 win Tuesday night in a key Division 6-2A game for both teams at St. Andrews in Jackson.

The Saints improved to 17-9 overall and, more important, took sole possession of first place in Division 6-2A with a 6-1 record.

Cathedral dropped to 9-6-1 overall and 5-2 in Division 6-2A and is now tied with Loyd Star for second place.

Cathedral hosts Loyd Star at 3:30 p.m. today. The winner of this game goes to the playoffs and the loser will see its season come to an end.

Jim Henegan was the winning pitcher for St. Andrews while Chris Norris took the loss for Cathedral.

The Saints spotted Cathedral a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before scoring six runs in the bottom of the first.

&uot;Chris didn’t do a bad job pitching, but our defense let us down,&uot; said Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley. &uot;We had several errors that led to their six runs.&uot;

The Green Wave committed 10 errors in the game.

&uot;We’ve got to cut down on the errors if we’re going to be a playoff team,&uot; Beesley said.

Cathedral scored three runs in the top of the second to cut the Saints’ lead to 6-4, but went scoreless the next three innings. St. Andrews increased its lead to 11-4 after five innings, but Cathedral would not go away quietly.

The Green Wave scored once in the sixth and three times in the seventh to cut the lead to 11-8.

Cathedral had the bases loaded with two outs, but was unable to keep the rally going.

&uot;I’m pleased that we didn’t give up,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We swung the ball well.&uot;