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Cathedral High School’s Craig Beesley slides safely into second base while Vidalia shortstop Tanner Jenkins waits on an incoming throw Thursday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral's Conner Branton delivers a pitch

(Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

The Cathedral defense runs off the field after the final out of an inning. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Vidalia’s Tanner Jenkins, left, and Leo Lozano congratulate each other following a play. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Ben White smacked the second pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning into right field, scoring Ben Foster to give Cathedral a 13-3 win over Vidalia in six innings Thursday night.

The Green Wave (3-3) controlled action from start to finish, leading 7-0 after three innings. White reached base four times in the win and also drove in three runs.

“That was a big job by Ben,” Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said. “We wanted that (10-run lead). I was hoping we could have gotten it earlier in the game, but we lost focused in the fourth inning, and we never did it regain it the rest of the game.”

Cathedral’s big scoring inning came in the second when it scored five runs. The rally was highlighted by a two-RBI triple from Robert Hargrave. The senior left fielder also scored three times.

“We drove some balls in the gap early in the game,” Beesley said. “But like I said, we lost focus, and we never regained it. I’m a little frustrated with them right now, but hopefully we come back tomorrow ready to play.”

The Green Wave will host Franklin County at 7 p.m. today, while Vidalia will play two games in the Monterey tournament Saturday. VHS will play Harrisonburg at 11 a.m. then face LaSalle at 2 p.m.

Cathedral pounded out 14 hits compared to Vidalia’s three. Nine separate CHS batters registered at least one hit in the win.

“The score reflected exactly what the game was,” Vidalia coach Mike Norris said. “We had three errors which gave them some extra bases, but they came out and hit the ball, and we didn’t hit the ball.”

The Vikings cycled through four pitchers Thursday, with Nick Melton proven to be the most effective. The right-handed hurler tossed two innings, allowing zero earned runs while striking out two batters.

“We threw a lot of young kids tonight, and we saved our top three pitchers so we could have them ready for Saturday,” Norris said. “Being Louisiana teams, those get us our performance points (for playoffs), so those are important to us.”

Leo Lozano led the Vikings (2-2) with two hits, while Dominik Harveston and Tristan Weatherly each recorded an RBI.

The Green Wave received a strong pitching performance from Conner Branton. The junior right-hander tossed four innings allowing just three hits while striking out three batters. Branton did allow seven walks.

“Conner did another good job tonight,” Beesley said. “He had another real good outing Saturday for us. As long as he stays ahead in the count and we play good defense behind him, I’ll be satisfied.

Vidalia scored one run in the fourth and added two more in the fifth to trim the lead 8-3 and threatened for more in the fifth. Cathedral, however, escaped a two-on, one-out jam with a double play.

Vidalia recorded its own double play in the bottom of the frame, keeping the score at 10-3.

Craig Bradley had two hits and two RBIs, and Jae Eidt and Daniel Garrity scored two runs for the Green Wave.

Cathedral has now taken both games from Vidalia this season, winning an 8-6 contest last week.

“I’m a firm believer that if you want to be the best, you have to play the best,” Norris said. “Cathedral is, in my opinion, the best baseball program in the area right now, and we’re hoping to catch up with them.”

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