NATCHEZ &045; The music may have been headbanging in the 1980s, but there’s no question Cathedral’s baseball squad is into heavy metal &045; aluminum to be precise.

With a gaudy team batting average of .400, the Green Wave were led by four underclassmen &045; juniors Te Riley, Wyler Murray and Michael Blain, and sophomore Jeremy Davis &045; all of whom headline the 2003 edition of The Natchez Democrat All-Metro baseball first team.

Each of the four Cathedral starters batted better than .425, with first base selection Te Riley at the top of the list with a .513 average in 76 at-bats, which also led the Green Wave.

&uot;The coaches never tried to change any of our approaches at the plate,&uot; said Riley, who additionally led the team in runs-batted-in with 34 despite not collecting one home run in 24 games. &uot;They kind of let us do our thing at the plate and it worked. Kind of the old, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ mentality.&uot;

Riley, who transferred from Adams County Christian School last summer, is currently a member of the Jackson 96ers, a National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) summer team, with Player of the Year Barry Bowden and fellow first team designated hitter selection AC’s Glenn Williams.

Blain’s .426 average and 19 RBIs landed him at second base, along with teammate Murray, who maintained a .437 batting average at third. Sandwiched between them was Walt Ketchings of Trinity Episcopal, who clubbed five homers and had a eye-popping .945 slugging percentage.

Monterey pitcher Phillip Bryan’s 13-1 record and 2.05 earned run average positioned him on the mound and his first-team battery mate was Vidalia catcher Chris Williams, who gobbled up any balls in the dirt around the plate.

Williams threw out several baserunners during the season, and he contributed at the plate with his .380 batting average and 18 runs batted in.

&uot;Chris can play at the next level,&uot; Vidalia head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said. &uot;I’ve got to get Chris to stay on a more even keel mentally and not get down during the tough times. I have all the confidence in him. Chris is a special one. Not a lot of people tried to run on him. Word got out &045; you don’t run on him.&uot;

Davis’ .478 average has him in the outfield, along with Vidalia’s Trey White, who was batting better than .530 before a late-season injury sidelined him, and Cody White, who had 13 triples and seven home runs, of Centreville.

The Green Wave were a sound team at the plate, but their Achilles heel lay in the field, as 71 errors led to their undoing in most of their eight losses, including their exit from the Mississippi High School Athletic Association Class 1A playoffs.

Tied one-game apiece of a second round best-of-three series against Mize, Cathedral and its fans celebrated an 8-5 lead three outs to early between the bottom half of the sixth and the top half of the seventh. Three errors in the seventh allowed Mize to take a 9-8 lead and the series.

The Bulldogs eventually won the state title.

&uot;I guess it has a lot to do with nerves,&uot; Blain said. &uot;You know you get excited and so much goes through your head, like wanting to make the perfect throw, that you rush yourself. We’ve got be able to stay down and watch fly balls closer.&uot;

Pitchers often talk about owning home plate and anyone who steps into the batter’s box is treading on sacred ground. Flip the coin, though, and the same rings true for hitters.

Riley, a pitcher himself, said he and his teammates believe no one standing on that mound 60 feet away from them is better than they are.

&uot;We have a lot of natural ability. We’re always real confident hitting,&uot; Davis said. &uot;If you’re not ready to hit, you might as well not even be up there in the box. You should always respect a good pitcher, but never be scared of the guy.&uot;

The Green Wave lose only four seniors from this past year’s squad and the future is bright for Craig Beesley’s boys.

Riley said it was sick for him to watch Mize take the Greenies’ place in the next round, then at South State and then ascending above all teams, knowing how Cathedral &uot;blew it.&uot;

Riley’s not the only one hungry. Davis maybe just headed into his junior year, but recognizing the experience a class ahead of him, he comprehends what implications could hold for Cathedral’s 2004 season.

&uot;Next year will be the most talented year since I’ve been here &045; that’s something I’ve definitely thought about,&uot; said Davis, who led the Green Wave with a .806 slugging percentage. &uot;We need to be focused and be ready to play.&uot;

Murray said the art of the Cathedral swing was built by Beesley and his assistants. While the coaches allowed hitters their autonomy at the plate, Murray said they preached patience, by tossing bad pitches in practice.

The Green Wave’s tolerance was reflected in their 94 walks, but it didn’t always matter to hitters like Murray.

&uot;I’m more of an aggressive hitter than most &045; I go after the first pitch,&uot; he said. &uot;We all work in our own way, but when that pitcher throws to me I’m going after it.&uot;