By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — Both St. Patrick and Resurrection are fighting for home-field advantage in the opening round of their respective state playoff brackets down the stretch of the regular season.

But Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Irish hosted the Eagles in non-region affair and the home team got the best of things in the latest round of the “Catholic League” tussle.

St. Patrick rallied from an early 4-0 deficit with eight unanswered runs to finish the game and pull out an 8-4 win over RCS.

Alden Williams smashed a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth frame for the Fighting Irish to break a 4-4 deadlock and give SPHS a lead it would never relinquish.

Andrew Lowery had two hits and drove in a run for SPHS, while Chaz Byers and Gunner Eure each had two hits apiece. Jasper Moran had a two-run single in the sixth stanza to plate a pair of insurance runs, and Eli Bowen added an RBI-triple to the winning effort.

Bennett Rimes worked five frames on the mound to earn the pitching win. He and reliever Streett Kaigler combined on a four-hitter.

Drew Johnson had an RBI-double for RCS.

Myles Naquin took the loss for the Eagles.

It marked the second win for SPHS in a week in this series after taking a 15-5 win in Pascagoula a week before.

St. Patrick enters the final week of play in Region 8-3A having already clinched a spot in the upcoming Class 3A South State playoffs. The Fighting Irish enter the week at 3-3 and in third place in the league standings. The Fighting Irish will face Perry Central twice to close out the region race this week. The Bulldogs are also 3-3 in league play.

West Marion leads the region race at 6-0, with St. Stanislaus sitting at 4-2 and in second place. The Trojans and Rock-A-chaws match up in a home and home series this week also.

Tylertown ended up league play at 0-8.

Meanwhile, Resurrection enters the final week of action in Region 8-1A with 5-2 league mark in what is a jumbled up mix in the region race. While the Eagles have already clinched a berth in the upcoming Class 1A South State playoffs, RCS could wind up as anywhere from first to fourth the fourth seed in the league standings.

Resurrection faces Sacred Heart in two games this week.