Ethan Land’s first-inning grand slam to left field helped lead Catholic Baseball past CSTHEA Patriots Varsity, 9-7, in middle school baseball on Saturday.

CSTHEA Patriots closed the gap by scoring on a single, a walk, a single, and a ground out. CSTHEA Patriots opened the scoring in the first after Callahan Tweed hit a solo home run to right field.

The Patriots scored five runs on four hits in the top of the second inning. Ethan Sumner singled, scoring one run, Tweed drew a walk, scoring a run, and Huck Ceccotti had a three-run single.

In the bottom of the third, Catholic broke up the tie when Caleb Grass singled, scoring one run. Then a single by Nick Pendergrass followed to extend the lead to 9-6.

Myles Pruitt pitched three innings in relief for Catholic. The pitcher surrendered two hits and one run, while striking out four and walking three.

Grass, the Catholic starter, surrendered six hits and six runs over one inning, striking out one and walking three.

Pendergrass and Land each drove in four runs for Catholic Baseball. Holder Donnelly drew a pair of walks for Catholic. Overall, the team had patience at the plate, amassing six walks for the game.

On defense, Catholic turned one double play.

Tweed excelled in the middle of the lineup, leading CSTHEA Patriots with two runs batted in. The 3-hole hitter went 2-for-2 on the day.