Maples strikes out nine, Russ homers in Cathedral’s shutout win over Centreville

Published 10:53 am Wednesday, March 8, 2023

CENTREVILLE — Cathedral High School pitcher Jake Maples struck out nine batters and got out of a couple of potential jams as the Green Wave defeated the Centreville Academy Tigers 17-0 in four innings last Monday night to remain undefeated.

Maples pitched all four innings for Cathedral, giving up three base hits while walking just one batter. Green Wave first-year head coach Andrew Beesley said that Maples didn’t have his best stuff, but he was able to manage the game at his pace.

“He was able to work around of couple of big hits they had. He was able to manage around a few things,” Beesley said.

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Those two base hits that Centreville Academy had were a triple by losing pitcher Hunter Wilson and a double by Caden Bell. But the Tigers were not able to get them in.

Cathedral got off to a hot start with eight runs in the top of the first inning. Noah Russ began that scoring barrage with a lead-off home run. The Green Wave then plated six runs in the top of the second inning to go up 14-0.

As a team, the Green Wave put together 11 base hits and its defense committed no errors. Beesely said it was the best game Cathedral played as a team this season.

“I felt like it was the first complete game we played all year. The bats came alive. The pitching was well. The defense was good. Everything came together for us,” Beesley said.

Russ ended up going 2-for-2, as did Jackson Navarro. Jack Lewis went 2-for-3 with a double and Fred Lane had a double of his own.

“It’s exciting to see us swing the bats like that. I think they’re starting to get a little confidence, which is fun to see,” Beesley said.

The Green Wave improved to 10-0 overall and played at Natchez High School with the junior varsity game at 5 p.m. and the varsity game at 7 p.m. at Chester Willis Field.