NATCHEZ &045; The Enterprise Yellow Jackets knew they would be in for a long game when Cathedral scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning in Friday night’s District 7-1A contest.

Lucky for Enterprise, the game only lasted four innings as the Green Wave, which pounded out 17 hits and got solid pitching and defense, cruised to a 17-2 win at Chester Willis Field.

&uot;I was pleased with the way we swung the bat,&uot; said Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley, who saw his Green Wave go to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in district play.

Cathedral ended the game with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning, capped by sophomore Preston Hicks’ grand slam home run to left field off reliever Justin Kyzar.

&uot;It was crazy,&uot; Hicks said. &uot;It felt good, though. I finally got a chance to go in and get a hit. I just wanted to hit a line drive, and I was just lucky that it went over the fence.&uot;

Brent Tosspon was the winning pitcher, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out four in three innings on the mound. Chris Norris came in and allowed one unearned run on one hit, one walk, and two hit batsmen.

&uot;Brent got in three good innings, and I was glad to see Chris get in an inning,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;That’s (defense) what we’ve been stressing lately. Anytime you start 2-0 in district, you’re doing good.&uot;

Beesley said he wants his team to keep that momentum going today as Cathedral plays Camden-Fairview (Ark.) at 12:15 p.m. at the Vidalia Invitational.

Cathedral jumped on Enterprise (0-6, 0-2) starting pitcher David Russell in the bottom of the first as the Green Wave got runs batted in from Jeremy Davis, Te Riley, Rodney Daggett, John Holleman, and Norris in his second at-bat of the inning.

The Green Wave’s other run of that half-inning occurred when Wyler Murray scored on a wild pitch.

&uot;Cathedral’s got a great team,&uot; Enterprise head coach Scott Leggett said. &uot;They can hit it. I can see them going number one out of out district.&uot;

As for Cathedral’s one-two pitching punch, Leggett said, &uot;Tosspon throws strikes. He’s got a good curveball. I knew they were going to give Norris an inning or two.&uot;

Cathedral tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the second to take a 10-0 lead before Enterprise’s Trey Herrington, who hit a one-out single, scored on an RBI single by Justin Kyzar in the top of the third inning. That rally ended when Russell hit into an inning-ending double play.

&uot;I was glad to see us turn that double play,&uot; Beesley said.

&uot;We didn’t play well,&uot; Leggett said. &uot;We didn’t make the plays that we should’ve made. The double play hurt us.&uot;

The Yellow Jackets added another run in the top of the fourth when catcher Drew Burns overthrew back to third base, allowing Lane Nations to score to cut the lead to 10-2.