VIDALIA, La. &045; Just like in Cathedral’s first game of the day against St. Frederick’s, the Green Wave fell behind early to False River Saturday night.

But this time, the Green Wave fought back to get a 17-3 win over the Gators at the Vidalia Tournament. Earlier Saturday, Cathedral fell 13-3 to St. Frederick’s.

False River scored three runs in the top of the first inning. Ray Gunnels singled, stole two bases and went home on an errant throw to third trying to catch him stealing. Steele Welch walked and went to second on a past ball, then scored on Steven Langlois’s single. Langlois scored when Austin Webber reached base on a Cathedral error.

&uot;We jumped out on them in the first, but a good team comes back and they did that with three in the bottom,&uot; False River head coach Glen Donald said. &uot;Our guys just didn’t want to hit after that.&uot;

Cathedral leadoff hitter Andrew Ellard struck back immediately, swatting the first pitch into left field for a single. Jesse Morrison bunted him to second and Jeremy Davis got him to third with a single.

Ellard and Davis both scored on Charlie Lane’s double, and Lane was knocked home on Drew Burns’ double.

End result for the inning: tie ball game.

&uot;Ellard got us started with a single, he was good for us tonight,&uot; Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;After that we started hitting. Hitting was contagious tonight.&uot;

Ellard reached base in all four of his plate appearances and scored three runs.

The Green Wave batted around in the second inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. Cathedral scored seven runs and built a comfortable lead as eight Green Wave starters scored in the game and each scored at least once in the first two innings.

In the second, Zack Calhoun led off with a single, then False River walked the bases loaded for Ellard. Ellard was hit by a pitch, sending Calhoun home. Jesse Morrison cleared the bases with a three-run triple to right field, putting the Green Wave up 7-3. Davis’ sacrifice fly brought Morrison home. Three batters later, Calhoun knocked Lane and Burns home on his second hit in the inning and the rout was on.

Cathedral’s defense looked suspect in the first inning as two errors and a past ball cost the Green Wave a couple runs, but they shored it up afterwards and their offensive performance made it a non-issue in this game.

&uot;We’ve been struggling in the first inning of games, particularly both games today,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;I was glad to see us come back in the bottom of the first.&uot;

But after the first inning, Cathedral played about as well as a team can play. Beesley said he’s working with his team to improve their mental game.

&uot;The main thing is getting mentally ready to play,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;I just think they’re not where they need to be.&uot;

Cathedral pitcher Patrick McDonough seemed to settle down and allowed no runs and only four hits over the next four innings. He struck out eight batters in the game, allowing his defense a little rest. McDonough also threw a complete game, something the Green Wave really needed with three pitchers out with injuries.

&uot;Right now we’re just pitching two or three guys, Zack (Calhoun), Charlie (Lane) and Patrick McDonough,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;Hicks and Davis still aren’t ready to pitch, but hopefully Davis will be back by Wednesday when we play St. Al’s.&uot;

Part of Cathedral’s offensive success may have been due to False River not being able to use their best pitchers. The Gators were forced to go in a different direction after their top couple pitchers complained of soreness in their arms.

&uot;Right before the game started, a couple of our kids came to me with their arms hurting,&uot; Donald said. &uot;We’re starting district this week, so we went with someone who hadn’t thrown in a while.&uot;