Alex Middleton always sits just outside of the dugout on the home plate side, so he was adhering to the age-old custom when there&8217;s a no-hitter going.

But that&8217;s his regular routine.

Several of the Cathedral players didn&8217;t even realize the senior left-hander had a no-no going Saturday afternoon against Ethel in the championship of the opening-round tournament. But he finished off the job in the seventh inning before the bats rallied for a run in the bottom half to win it in walk-off fashion, 2-1.

In a format that magnifies the role of quality pitching, the Green Wave needed a solid outing just in case a second game was needed. That would have been a fourth game in four days, and no one in Class 1A has that type of pitching depth.

But in only his second start of the year, Middleton did the job and then some.

&8220;He pitched like a senior today,&8221; CHS head coach Craig Beesley said. &8220;He&8217;s not a true starting pitcher. He&8217;s one I like to bring in after somebody who throws hard. That&8217;s two games he&8217;s pitched, and he&8217;s done a great job both games.

&8220;Alex does a good job of keeping it away from them, and he&8217;s got a little tail on his fastball. He did a good job on the mound. You can&8217;t ask for any more &8212; three walks and facing three (batters) over the minimum.&8221;

Both teams were depleted a bit on pitching, but at least the Green Wave had Charlie Lane to go had the Tigers won and forced another game. The situation called for Middleton to make his first start since getting the nod in a game against Rayville at the Vidalia Invitational in the same sort of circumstances &8212; a game squeezed between a number of others.

Give partial credit to the defense behind him. The Green Wave made only two errors and came up with some big plays, including Kole Junkin making a leaping grab on a line shot in the corner in left off the bat of slugger Matt McAdams.

It also, of course, kept the no-hitter intact.

&8220;When it got to the seventh inning, I started thinking about it,&8221; Middleton said. &8220;I got out there and did my job. I just had to hit my spots and let my defense play. The defense played great, and the outfield played really solid. That (McAdams) was their big hitter, and I knew if we got him out we&8217;d be in good shape. It was a great catch.&8221;

The two errors came in the fourth on consecutive batters, with the first nearly being a hit when Preston Edwards couldn&8217;t make the play on a hard hit ball to his right at shortstop. The Tigers got a run on the next batter when their courtesy runner for Hunter Dempsey went to third on the second error and scored on a wild pitch.

Ethel had hard-hit balls to the infield for outs early but didn&8217;t get it into the outfield until the fifth.

&8220;We didn&8217;t know that,&8221; Zack Calhoun said of Middleton&8217;s no-hitter. &8220;If we would have known, it would have gotten in his head. We thought he pitched a two- or three-hitter, to tell you the truth. Our defense played great.&8221;

The moment, however, wasn&8217;t all joy and happiness. Coaches warned everyone of the down side to Saturday&8217;s win &8212; too many men left on base, a failed squeeze play, a runner picked off first base and other baserunning mistakes.

&8220;Coach said at practice we better be ready to run,&8221; Calhoun said. &8220;That&8217;s all we&8217;re going to do.&8221;

HE&8217;S CRAIG BIGGIO &8212; This may be why Jesse Morrison bats leadoff for Cathedral. He&8217;s leading the team &8212; and quite possibly everyone in the Miss-Lou &8212; in times being hit by a pitch.

Morrison reach base via hit by pitch four times during Cathedral&8217;s three games this week, including two of his first three plate appearances in the opener against Noxapater. The four puts his total at 11 on the year, although you&8217;re probably thinking it seems like way more than that.

Don&8217;t forget the game at Vidalia where he was hit by a pitch but the umpires ruled he was leading into it.