St. Aloysius has seen more than enough of Columbia Academy for a good long while.

Logan Buckley racked up 10 strikeouts in five-plus innings, and Trent Buckley hit a three-run home run as Columbia Academy bulldozed St. Al 9-3 in Game 2 of their second-round MAIS Class 5A baseball playoff series on Thursday.

Trent Buckley finished with three RBIs and three runs scored, and Zac McCain was 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one run scored for Columbia. St. Al only had eight hits in the series, seven of which were singles.

Email newsletter signup

Columbia (26-8) swept St. Al (17-14) for the second year in a row and advanced to face Oak Forest or Parklane Academy next week in the Class 5A semifinals. Columbia outscored St. Al 51-5 in their four playoff meetings over the past two seasons.

Despite the loss, St. Al finished with its first winning record since 2021. It also won its first district championship since 2014, as well as a playoff series for the first time since 2015.

The Cougars won 12-2 in Game 1 on Tuesday and started fast when the series resumed at Key City Park in Vicksburg on Thursday.

Three consecutive errors loaded the bases and set up Jackson Speir for a two-run single in the top of the first inning. Another throwing error in the second allowed three runs to score and put Columbia ahead 5-0.

Zac McCain added an RBI double in the third, and Trent Buckley belted his three-run home run in the sixth to push it to 9-0. With the way he was pitching, Logan Buckley hardly needed that much support.

Buckley allowed a two-out single to Carson Smith in the bottom of the first inning, but Smith was picked off of first base before any serious threat could materialize. Buckley then struck out the next five batters he faced and retired 12 of 13 through the fifth inning.

Buckley finally faltered in the sixth, which allowed the Flashes to get on the scoreboard. Two walks and a balk put runners at second and third with no outs and led Columbia’s coach to take out Buckley and bring in left-hander Zeke Todd.

Keller Bradley lined the first pitch he saw from Todd to center field for an RBI single, bringing in Sadler Lambiotte with the Flashes’ first run. Todd was able to escape the jam with no further damage, however.

St. Al loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and got a momentary thrill when Bradley doubled to center. Two runs scored, but Robert Lee was thrown out advancing to third base to end the game and the series.

Bradley finished 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs for the Flashes. Clark Hobson singled and scored a run, and Sadler Lambiotte walked twice and scored two runs.

More Sports