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By

ADAM DAIGLE

VIDALIA, La. &045; Te Riley has an idea why he’s like this.

Fixing it? Well, that’s anybody’s guess.

But the Cathedral left-hander could be the poster child for a slow-starting pitcher &045; get in that jam early, have trouble throwing strikes before settling down and mowing down hitters.

That’s commonplace with him, and Thursday night against Vidalia was no different. He had a bad second inning but found his groove as he struck out 12 and allowed two hits in the Green Wave’s win over Vidalia in the opening day of the Vidalia tournament.

&uot;If I can get past that third inning, I’m there for the rest of the game,&uot; Riley said. &uot;(Coach) gets a little frustrated. I guess it’s just nerves. I go out there, and I’m too pumped up. The tempo of the game falls into play, I settle down and get in the groove of the game. Everything falls into place.&uot;

Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley has tried everything short of getting Riley to throw an hour before a game to rid of him of that problem, but the jam he was in during the second inning wasn’t as bad as compared to others.

Riley walked three in the second inning and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, but after that he was good to go. The curveball was working tremendously, and he was able to throw it for strikes late in the count.

He allowed one hit in the final four innings while getting seven of those 12 outs on strikeouts.

&uot;He was throwing it behind in the count &045; 3-1 and 2-0,&uot; Vidalia head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said. &uot;You couldn’t sit on his fastball because he was throwing his curveball for strikes. Twelve strikeouts &045; that will do it. I think the difference was Te was able to get his curveball over when he was behind in the count and we couldn’t sit on the fastball.

&uot;This was a typical Cathedral-Vidalia game. I will say this &045; I was disappointed to lose but not disappointed with the effort. It was a good game, and we happened to lose.&uot;

The contest was tight the whole way with key defensive plays on both sides, and it was reminiscent of the first time the two teams met last year when Barry Bowden tossed a shutout for a 2-0 Vidalia win.

This time both teams finished with just six hits, and the Green Wave left 11 men on base.

But Riley never wavered on the mound, and Vidalia couldn’t get a rally going in the late innings.

&uot;He gets going good about 40 or 50 pitches,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;Once he settles down and gets in a rhythm, he does a good job. He’s been able to throw his curveball real well the last two games. They’re a good-hitting team, and we didn’t want them sitting on his fastball. We were trying to get the fastball inside and the curveball away. With him throwing, it’s hard for him to get the inside pitches. We worked away a lot tonight.&uot;

Both teams were tied at 2-2 with Mac Ware throwing well for the Vikings before he exited for right-hander Patrick Golden. The Green Wave had left the bases loaded in the fifth and the second before finally getting an opportunity in the seventh.

Jeremy Davis, who led off with a walk, was running on a pitch Wyler Murray lined into left field for the team’s third hit of the game.

Davis went to third on the play, but Tony Hawkins’ throw from left field went into the dugout for score Davis and give CHS a 3-2 lead.

&uot;We had a chance to win in the sixth, but we were lucky to be in the ball game,&uot; Hoffpauir said. &uot;With our walks and their strikeouts, I was pleased to be in the game. Those walks hurt us. We walked (two) batters that inning. When you’re fighting walks all night, it’s going to come back to haunt you.&uot;

Murray moved to second on the throw, and he got to third when Preston Hicks put a shot off the wall in center for a single. A walk to Charlie Lane loaded the bases with one out, and Nick Anderson’s flyout down the right-field line was deep enough to score Murray from third.

&uot;We’ve been talking about trying to be aggressive on the bases,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;Coach (Ken) Beesley flashed the steal signal to me (with Davis on first), and it worked out. He got to third on the play, and they threw it into the dugout. Just being more aggressive on the basepaths and making the other team make the play.&uot;