NATCHEZ &045; The fortitude might not be there, but Natchez High pitcher Drew Kossum deserves to hold his head up today.

The senior hurler pitched masterfully during eight innings of work against St. Aloysius on Saturday, mowing down 15 batters with strikeouts and issuing one base on balls.

However, Kossum did not have enough in the tank when he took the mound in the top of the ninth and the Flashes seized the opportunity, scoring four runs to prevail 9-5 at Chester Willis Field.

&uot;Drew went nine for us, but he couldn’t finish,&uot; Bulldog head coach Charlie Williams said. &uot;We left too many runners in scoring position. We never got the timely hits on the ball.&uot;

Natchez is now 0-2 after a 5-2 loss to rival Cathedral on Friday.

St. Al also put a four-spot on the board in the third inning to take its first lead of the game, 4-1.

The Bulldogs responded with three of their own in their half of the third to lock the game at 4s.

&uot;We’ve been getting a lot of reps in. Last week

(the weather) hurt us a little bit,&uot; Williams said. &uot;We were hitting the ball either right at them on the nose or flying out very long. I feel like we’ll be all right in the long run.&uot;

The Flashes reclaimed the lead in the fourth with a run before Natchez once again answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth.

Travis Noble, Keymond Williams and Aaron Ratliff all collected doubles for the Bulldogs. Noble, Ratliff and Kossum all collected two hits in their respective at-bats.

Curtis Robinson and Kyle Richardson led St. Al with three hits apiece.

Andy Wyles picked up the complete game win for the Flashes.

&uot;We’re still improving. I haven’t given up hope yet,&uot; Charlie Williams said of back-to-back losses to begin the season. &uot;With this talent, I can tell we’re going to be something.&uot;

Gulfport 9, Cathedral 3

MEADVILLE &045; The Green Wave saw their strategy drown quickly on Saturday as Gulfport dropped eight runs in the first at the Franklin County Classic.

The Admirals pushed it to 9-0 with a run in the third before Cathedral (1-1) attempted a rally with a pair of runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, and last, inning.

&uot;We had trouble getting out of that first inning,&uot; Green Wave head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;That took away our small ball that we were trying to play. We had opportunities, but didn’t get it when we needed to.&uot;

Te Riley picked up the loss from Cathedral, while Adam Carlson scattered six hits for Gulfport in the win.

Garrett Jones continued his hot hitting to begin the season with his second consecutive 2 for 3 outburst, which included a double.

John Holleman homered for the Green Wave, as did Gulfport’s Brian Riggins.

Admiral Hudson Myrick also had a double.

&uot;I’ve got people moving around defensively,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;It’s still early in the year and I’m trying to get some looks at different people.&uot;