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GALLMAN — Cathedral High School’s varsity baseball team had to hold off a pair of late-game rallies to defeat Copiah Academy in an MAIS District 4-5A varsity doubleheader last Friday afternoon and get right back in the thick of the district race.

In Game 1, Landon French pitched all seven innings and got some much-needed help at the plate from Owen Jordan and Jackson Navarro in the top of the fourth inning as the Cathedral Green Wave escaped with a 6-5 win over the Copiah Academy Colonels.

With the exception of the bottom of the sixth inning, French had a solid outing on the mound. He ended up allowing five runs, three of them earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts and four walks to earn the win.

Cathedral was only ahead 2-1 on Copiah Academy before the Green Wave plated four runs in the top of the fourth for a 6-1 advantage. Jordan and Navarro had the big hits for the visiting team from Natchez as Jordan blasted a solo home run and Navarro drove in two runs with a triple.

Jordan went 2-for-4 with the homer as well as a double while Tripp Wimberly was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles to lead the Green Wave’s seven-hit attack.

However, Copiah Academy would not go away quietly. Led by Trey Wood, Jackson Teasley, and Braxton Miller, the Colonels scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning and three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Even though he was the losing pitcher, Wood had a double while Teasley was 3-for-4 and Miller went 2-for-4 as the Colonels had eight total hits.

French closed the lid on Copiah Academy’s comeback attempt as he kept the Colonels off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh.

In the second game, Cathedral scored one run in the top of the first inning, but didn’t score again until the top of the fourth as the Green Wave again scored one run to take a 2-0 lead.

Starting and winning pitcher Ethan Keith was dialed in on the mound as he blanked the Colonels over the first five innings. Cathedral gave him even more run support by plating three runs in the top of the sixth for a 5-0 lead.

Yet Copiah Academy finally got to Keith in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to trail 5-2 going into the seventh inning. The Colonels scored one run off Keith in the bottom of the seventh, but that was the scoring they could do. 

Keith went six and one-third innings and gave up three earned runs on nine hits, struck out six batters, and walked just one batter.

Owen Jordan had a double while Josh Ingram was 2-for-2, Tristan Fondren went 3-for-4, and Landon French was 2-for-4 to lead the Green Wave at the plate. The Colonels were led by Miller, who was 3-for-4, and Grayson Moody, who went 2-for-4. Gunner Mckee hit a home run while losing pitcher Teasley as well as Jake Ainsworth had a triple.

Cathedral (11-3, 2-1) was scheduled to play at cross-town and District 4-5A rival Adams County Christian School on Monday with the junior varsity game at 5 p.m. and the varsity game at 7 p.m. — if the weather permitted.