NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School struggled to get anything going offensively for the first several innings.

But the Lady Green Wave finally broke the dam in the bottom of the fifth, and Cathedral rode the waters to an 11-1 victory against rival St. Aloysius Thursday.

Head coach Gary Blackwell said it took a while for his team to get cranked up, but his girls finally put together some good at-bats during their five-run fifth inning.

“I don’t know what kind of pitch (St. Al starter Avery Parman) throws, but it keeps you off balance,” Blackwell said. “We finally got patient at the plate, got a few walks and got some hits when we needed them.”

Cathedral had a narrow 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Green Wave loaded the bases for starting pitcher Mollie Devening, who drew a walk to make it 3-1. Tori Edwards followed that up with a single to score another run, and Elizabeth Smith also drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-1.

An error by St. Al allowed Devening to come home, and Edwards scored on a sacrifice fly by Grayson Bryant.

Devening said working with a bigger lead allowed her to settle in after St. Al threatened a few times in the earlier innings.

“It gives you some insurance so you’re not stressing as much to worry about if you slip up and they get a big hit,” she said. “You’ve got a little bit of room to think about it. It’s always in the back of your mind, because they can hit the ball. We faced them before, and they beat us.”

But this game was much different than the Lady Green Wave’s 5-0 loss March 26. Once the bats got going, Cathedral was able to force the 10-runs-after-five mercy rule by adding four more in the bottom of the sixth.

Mckenzie Milligan came home on a single by Mackenzie Watts, and Kimble Devening scored on a passed ball, making it 9-1. Mollie Devening then shut the door with a two-run home run, the second of her high school career, to force the mercy rule.

“It felt good,” Mollie said. “I’ve been struggling batting lately and popping up a lot, so it’s good to be out of the slump.”

Cathedral took an early 1-0 lead when an RBI single by Mollie scored Kimble. After St. Al scored its only run in the top of the third, Cathedral went ahead 2-1 when a single by Watts brought around Milligan.

Mollie finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate, and she got the win for the Lady Green Wave, giving up one run on six hits with four strikeouts. Parman took the loss, surrendering 11 runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and five walks.

“She had an excellent game,” Blackwell said of his starter. “Mollie’s finally got herself back in a rhythm, both pitching and hitting, so we’ve got her back at the right time.”

Kimble went 2-for-3, and Watts was 2-for-4. Cathedral (11-6, 2-2) will host Bogue Chitto Thursday.