ERIE — Free passes equalled the end to the baseball season at Slippery Rock.

Cathedral Prep turned five walks into four runs and built a 6-0 lead after two innings on the way to a 7-2 win over the Rockets in the District 10 Class 4A semifinals Monday at UPMC Park.

“The walks came back to bite us,” said first-year Slippery Rock coach Doug Popovec.

Still, Slippery Rock (12-6) had a chance to put a big dent in that early lead.

The Rockets had already scored two runs in the top of the third and had the bases loaded, but Prep pitcher Jacob Engel was able to get out of the jam.

“That depleted the guys,” Popovec said. “That was a tough pill to swallow.”

Cameron Cygan had a pair of hits and Sal Mineo an RBI single for the Rockets.

Cathedral Prep got a pair of doubles from Jackson Mattocks and a big two-run single by Patrick Sullivan.

Shane Thompson got the loss for Slippery Rock, which held Prep to just five hits.

Still, Popovec was pleased with what the Rockets were able to accomplish this season.

“These are gravy games as a coach, especially a first-year one,” Popovec said. “I can’t say enough about the guys. They played hard and had fun. I didn’t over-coach them. I just let them play.”

Slippery Rock only loses two senior starters.

“We’re still really young,” Popovec said. “We started four sophomores. We started a couple of juniors. We started a freshman. That makes for a good next year.”

Slippery Rock 002 000 0 — 2 6 1

Cathedral Prep 240 010 x — 7 5 3

W: Jacob Engel 7IP (8K, 0BB). L: Shane Thompson 5IP (4K, 5BB)

Slippery Rock (12-6): Cameron Cygan 2-1B, Sal Mineo 1B RBI, Brett Galcik 1B, Nick Kingerski 1B, John Sabo 1B

Cathedral Prep: Jackson Mattocks 2-2B RBI, Patrick Sullivan 1B 2-RBI