NATCHEZ &8212; Cathedral (8-1) pulled out a nailbiting 9-8 victory over the Bears of West Lincoln (2-7) at Chester Willis field on St.Patrick&8217;s Day.

The Bears came to play, surprising Cathedral by out-scoring them 7-4 midway through to the fifth inning. Bears catcher Zach Wiliams played small ball to score the first run by producing an RBI bunt single to score Brett Rushing. First baseman Sawyer Wallace then drove in Mason Douglas to get an early 2-0 lead.

&8220;I&8217;m super proud of our guys,&8221; said West Lincoln head coach Keith Cline, &8220;It&8217;s been a long time since we came to Cathedral and played Cathedral to a one-run ball game.&8221;

The fifth inning was a big one for the Green Wave as they got five runs to lead 9-7. Cathedral capitalized when a Preston Edwards fly ball fell in and allowed outfielder Daniel Jenkins score from second.

Catcher Jesse Morrison then drove a shot between shortstop and third to score Jerad Burkhardt.

Then came the big two-RBI triple which was ripped down the first base line from Cathedral third baseman Charlie Lane to score Edwards and Morrison to give them an 8-7 lead.

&8220;Jesse Morrison came up and drove one in, and Charlie came up behind him and drove two in, which was big,&8221; Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said.

What turned out to be the game-winning score came from Patrick McDonough when he hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Lane.

McDonough was also the star on the mound after relieving starter Drew David with one out in the fifth inning. McDonough struck out seven in 2 2/3 innings and allowed one run.

&8220;I came in and felt great tonight I just had to go in there and threw strikes and get out of this game&8221; McDonough said.

&8220;His our number one,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;He came in with people on base and threw strikes and that&8217;s what we needed.&8221;