NATCHEZ &8212; More things were smoking than the grill Friday night at Chester Willis Field as the Cathedral Green Wave narrowly escaped the Lake Hornets in 1-0 pitchers&8217; duel in the first game in the best-of-three series of MHSAA Class 1A South State semifinals.

The flamethrowers from both teams brought their heat. This set up a hard-fought defensive battle as both pitchers allowed only two hits between the two.

&8220;It was a game you hate to lose,&8221; Lake coach Brian Goodman said.

&8220;The two pitchers and both teams played their hearts out.&8221;

&8220;Both pitchers did an outstanding job,&8221; Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said.

Cathedral hurler Patrick McDonough catapulted the Green Wave over the Hornets. McDonough threw a no-hitter, walked three batters and collected 10 strikeouts.

&8220;I felt pretty good out there tonight,&8221; McDonough said.

Lake pitcher Jason Judge kept the game close by allowing only two hits. Judge fanned nine batters and walked only one. Six of Judge&8217;s strikeouts came in the first three innings.

&8220;Judge is a different type of pitcher than Patrick,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;He goes right after batters.&8221;

Lake threatened in the fourth inning with two runners on, but Cathedral was able to contain them as McDonough struck out two batters. Cathedral right fielder Alex Middleton contributed to the defensive effort by making a grabbing snag from a hard-hit ball by Lake&8217;s Sam Wooten.

Lake was plagued by costly fourth inning errors as Cathedral provided the offensive power they needed to pull ahead and come away victorious.

&8220;When you make five errors, you don&8217;t deserve to win,&8221; Goodman said.

Cathedral got the game&8217;s only run when Preston Edwards lead off the fourth with a single that dropped between Lake&8217;s second baseman and shortstop. Then Charlie Lane got on base with a fielder&8217;s choice and struck the offensive blow.

Lane stole second, third and home off of two Hornet errors, the last of which landed in the Hornet dugout.

&8220;Charlie did a good job on the bases,&8221; McDonough said. &8220;He helped out the team by giving us momentum.&8221;

The next batter, Zack Calhoun, knocked the ball to center for what would be the only other hit of the game.

Lake unsuccessfully tried to comeback in the innings that would follow. The Hornets left one man on base in both the fifth and sixth but couldn&8217;t capitalize.

The Green Wave will take their 1-0 series lead and make the 2 -hour trek to Lake today for the second game in the series. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

&8220;We have to go up there tomorrow and play good ball,&8221; Beesley said.

If Cathedral wins tomorrow night, they will advance to the MHSAA Class A South State championship. A Lake win would bring the two teams back to Chester Willis and a likely pitching rematch between McDonough and Judge.

&8220;We have to figure out how to come back tomorrow and force a game three,&8221; Goodman said.