VIDALIA, La. &045; If there are any disbelievers now, you ought to probably kick yourself.

As the refrain went since early this month, hitting really is contagious. When Cathedral struggled early hitting the ball, one or two batter got hits here and there for some runs.

Then came the bottom of the lineup. But on Friday the Green Wave got production from just about every area of the lineup in a 11-4 win over Mangham at the Vidalia Invitational.

Much like in Tuesday’s 11-0 win at St. Aloysius, the Green Wave bats made much more noise than at the start of the season.

&uot;It seems like the whole team is starting to come together &045; it’s about time,&uot; said first baseman Te Riley, who had a triple and a single with three runs driven in. &uot;It was just a matter of time before we all came together. That (Tuesday) was where it all started. It just kind of exploded up there, and it carried over here, too.&uot;

It was just a week ago here at the same Vidalia field the Green Wave took a 5-3 win over Jena with just four hits. But in that game you could see something about to happen as the Wave had a number of hard-hit balls to the outfield and the infield &045; shots that right in the Giants’ gloves.

This time, they didn’t.

The Green Wave had nine hits and started hitting the ball right off the bat to take the win over a good Dragons team.

&uot;We had some good swings tonight,&uot; CHS head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;We took some called third strikes, and I was disappointed in that. But overall I’m pleased with how we’re starting to swing the bat. We had two or three guys hitting last week, but it looks like everybody is hitting. It’s like I tell the kids &045; hitting is contagious. Once somebody is hitting, every else will follow.&uot;

The Green Wave jumped on Mangham starter B.J. Jackson in the first inning to get on the board in a hurry with three runs. In the third inning the Wave added four more off Jackson before the Dragons brought in reliever Adam Romero, who threw just an inning.

The Dragons, who got two in the first off no hits, got buried in a hurry and had to make do with a depleted pitching staff following their marathon district game with Oak Grove on Tuesday.

&uot;They’ve got a good ball club and swing the bat well,&uot; Mangham head coach Scott Wilcher said. &uot;We were coming off a nine-inning district game Tuesday, and both of my first two pitchers threw in that game. Being a single-A school, we don’t have a lot of depth. They got to (Jackson), and they hit him well. That second guy did a good job, but after that he had trouble finding the plate.&uot;

The Green Wave were only happy to oblige.

The Green Wave broke it open in the third inning with four runs to take a 7-2 lead. Riley had the biggest shot with a triple to the fence in center to score Jeremy Davis for the first run, and Wyler Murray singled in Riley for the second run.

Charlie Lane’s fly ball to deep right was misjudged by the rightfielder, and Myrra scored before Lane ended up at second. Preston Hicks then singled in Lane for the 7-2 lead.

&uot;You keep hitting the ball hard, and it’s going to find a hole,&uot; Riley said. &uot;We just need to keep hitting, and we’ll be all right.&uot;

The Dragons, however, couldn’t answer at the plate against Cathedral’s pitching as Beesley went with three pitchers in the contest &045; Garrett Jones for three, Corey Walker for two and Jeremy Davis to close out.

The Dragons got those two runs in the first off Jones without the ball leaving the infield. Caleb Gandy walked and scored on an error, and Jared Williams reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a passed ball to cut the lead to 3-2.

Caleb Stephenson got Mangham’s first hit in the second, but he was punched out when he got doubled up following Caleb Gandy’s lineout to Murray at third. The Dragons didn’t get another hit until Romero doubled home two runs in the sixth.

&uot;They did a good job of keeping us off balance,&uot; Wilcher said. &uot;We didn’t hit. I’m not taking anything away from their pitching, but we didn’t hit. We were undisciplined at the plate. We were hitting the ball good last week. I give credit to their pitching.&uot;

Jones faced six batters in his final two innings before Corey Walker came in and faced seven batters. The two combined to strike out five and walk two in the first five innings, but more importantly Walker was able to come with his normal zip on his fastball.

&uot;That was a good team,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We gave them two runs in the first inning, but after that we kind of held them in check.&uot;