NATCHEZ &045; It was the game Trinity’s Saints are trying to forget &045; and they’ll tell you it was plenty forgettable.

No hits. No runs scored. Seven errors. Four innings played in a 12-0 loss to Centreville Academy.

Now they’re playing better and have a good game under their belts after Monday’s 17-7 win over Amite School Center in six innings. The Saints made better contact, made more plays on defense and finished the game in six innings.

The Saints host Centreville in a 4-AA contest they need to win to stay in contention for a playoff spot.

&uot;I feel we can beat them, but it’s a big district game,&uot; senior catcher Zach Rogel said. &uot;If we lose, our playoff hopes are pretty much shot. It’s a do-or-die situation. It’s just confidence. We work in practice and take fungo &045; that’s basically what we do all day. We’ll come around, make the routine plays and hopefully get some more runs.&uot;

That’s been the nagging problem for a team that’s full of underclassmen &045; Rogel is the only senior &045; so far this season. It’s given a bad rap for the team’s pitchers, as was the case in Amite’s five-run fourth thanks to three errors.

But Matthew Freeman retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings, and the Saints scored seven in the sixth to enact the 10-run rule and send everybody home.

&uot;We’ve been swinging the bats better than I thought we would, but our defense has struggled,&uot; Trinity head coach Matt Mason said. &uot;Except for the beginning, we played well defensively. We’ve got six freshmen starting. Sometimes situations are tough on freshmen, but they’ve got to overcome that. If they can make the routine plays, we can be competitive.

&uot;That one (fourth) inning I thought we might be out of here in five, but they stepped back up and got the runs we gave up (in the sixth).&uot;

The Rebels (3-8) had the problems defensively early in the game, but the Saints kept making solid contact in the later innings to put the game away. The Rebels had that big inning to cut the lead to 8-7, but the Saints got two in the fourth inning for a 10-7 lead thanks to a double from Matthew Freeman that scored Kyle Dunaway and a Kyle Ketchings single that scored Freeman.

But the Saints knocked the door open in the sixth with seven runs off reliever Casey Cox.

&uot;We’ve got a real young club,&uot; Amite head coach Don Thompson said. &uot;We don’t know how to win just yet, you know? I’ve got three seniors and a junior that hasn’t played in a couple of years.

&uot;(Our pitchers) aren’t our normal starters. We’re keeping guys for our district games. We’ve got a big one coming up Friday with Woodville and a doubleheader Saturday.&uot;

The Saints sent 11 men to the plate in the seventh and used just one Amite error to their advantage (ASC had seven for the game). Jon Griffey singled in Dunaway and Freeman to ignite the rally, and Rogel came later with a run-scoring single.

After Cox hit Stevan Ridley with a pitch, Dunaway singled to left to score Rogel for the final run to end the game.

&uot;We have been a lot more aggressive the last few games at the plate,&uot; Rogel said. &uot;We didn’t have a good game against Centreville, but we came out tonight swinging the sticks. And it paid off for us.&uot;

Things fell apart for the Saints in the fourth thanks to three errors and the Rebels’ ability to put the ball in play. Josh Wells singled with one out, but he came around to score on an error.

Logan Felder and Tanner Cothren each reached on errors and scored, and Justin Baggett came with a two-run single that scored Cothern and Casey Aldridge to cut the lead to 8-7.