STRINGER — The Stringer Stringer High School Red Devils held on for a 7-5 win Saturday night to tie the MHSAA Class 1A South State Championship at one game apiece.

Stringer’s Bailey Seals pitched six effective innings before running into trouble in the top of the seventh inning.

Unfortunately for Cathedral High School, Bailey Sullivan put a stop to the Green Wave’s attempted rally.

After Cathedral scored two runs with the bases loaded to make it a two-run game, Sullivan struck out Pate Shirley and Gabe Smith looking to end the game.

Thomas Garrity led off the top the top of the seventh with a single and Andrew Beesley, who went 3-for-3 in the game, followed with a single of his own to put runners at first and second. That prompted a pitching change with Sullivan in for Seals. On Sullivan’s first pitch, he hit Ty Brown to load the bases.

Zach Flattmann was 0-for-3 in the game before hitting a single that brought in Garrity to make it a 7-4 game. Craig Bradley reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Beesley and advanced Brown to third. However, Flattmann was forced out at second for the first out. Then Sullivan came through for Stringer with the back-to-back strikeouts.

Seals was the winning pitcher after going six-plus innings and allowing five runs, three earned, on 10 hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Cathedral starting pitcher Sam Parker lasted just one and one-third innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on two hits and one walk with two strikeouts. He was charged with the loss.

The Green Wave finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning when Beesley reached on a one-out bunt single, went to second base on an error and scored on a double by Brown. They cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the fifth on Beesley’s two-out double that brought in Jacob Jenkins and then to 5-3 in the top of the sixth on Reed White’s fielder’s choice that scored Shirley.

Cathedral (22-6) will host Game 3 of the series on Monday at a time yet to be determined.