NATCHEZ — Concerns over Cathedral High School’s hitting were put on hold Saturday afternoon as the Green Wave tallied 13 hits in a 13-0 shutout against Natchez High School.

It marked the second game in a row Cathedral has had at least 10 hits, and the bulk of the damage came in an 11-run second inning that forced Natchez High School starter Derrian Johnson to be pulled before recording an out.

“We had some good at-bats that inning,” Beesley said. “We took advantage of some things that they gave us and swung the bat well, but I’m just glad to see us be a little more aggressive at the plate and taking good cuts. Hopefully everything will come together for us.”

Several errors committed by the Bulldogs contributed to that offensive outburst for Cathedral, and NHS head coach Skip Golding said he didn’t understand why his team’s defense had so many problems in the second.

“We’ve been playing well defensively and we’ve been making the routine plays, and for that inning, we couldn’t make the routine plays,” Golding said. “Once they got that far ahead, it’s hard to (come back).”

Cathedral scored two runs in the top of the first when Thomas Garrity came home on a Blake Martin single and Caleb Upton scored on a Kyle Bradley single. Although Johnson was able to limit the damage in the first, he loaded the bases in the top of the second, prompting Golding to bring reliever Dominique Salters in.

Salter then issued a bases-loaded walk to Thomas Garrity that scored Ty Brown. Caleb Upton then reached base on a fielding error by right fielder Darius Terrell, who was playing out of position due to Denzel Washington being hurt. The error scored Turner Janette, and Martin followed up with another bases-loaded walk that brought in Daniel Huffines.

Austin Chauvin grounded into a fielder’s choice, but the throw home was off, and Garrity was safe at home, making it 6-0 Cathedral. Bradley then drew a walk that scored Upton, and Trevor Farmer hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought home Martin.

Brown singled to left field, scoring Chauvin, Janette laced a single into the left-center gap to send home Bradley and Brown scored on a single by Garrity. Salters finally got the second out of the inning when Upton popped up to Bulldog catcher Davion Ward.

But the Green Wave wasn’t finished, and singles by Martin and Chauvin scored Janette and Huffines. NHS finally got out of the inning when Bradley flew out to center field.

Salters would pitch three more scoreless innings before the game was called after the bottom of the fifth. Martin, who started the game for Cathedral, got the win by going two innings and giving up just two hits and one walk while striking out three. Hayden Nunnery pitched the final three innings for Cathedral, giving up one hit and two walks with three strikeouts.

“Blake’s been strong for us all year, and we had some older guys with some sore shoulders, so I got Hayden in there,” Beesley said. “He’s just an eighth grader, but he did a good job for us.”

NHS (2-2) will host Terry High School on Tuesday, while Cathedral (2-3) will host Wilkinson County Christian Academy Friday.