Caleb Freeman throws left and bats right for Class 4A No. 10 Etowah.

He does both well.

Freeman pitched a two-hitter as the Blue Devils beat host St. John Paul II Catholic 2-1 to win their 4A semifinal series in Huntsville. He had homered in Etowah’s 9-3 win in Wednesday’s rainy opener.

“It was good, and my defense played behind me like they were supposed to,” the Snead State signee said. “The bats, we were hitting the ball right at people. They gave me two runs so that’s all I needed.”

Freeman (7-3) had seven strikeouts, five walks and allowed an unearned run in seven innings for Etowah (28-11). He said he threw his fastball and curveball, mostly his fastball which tops at about 86.

For the second straight year, the Blue Devils advance to the 4A final. Etowah lost last year to Mobile Christian. The Blue Devils will take on another Mobile team, UMS-Wright, this year. Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Oxford. Games 2 and 3 if necessary will be at Jacksonville State beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“We’re going to give it all we got because we have unfinished business,” Freeman said.

Second baseman and cleanup hitter Slade St. Clair, a junior, went 3-for-3 with a double and run batted in. This is his first year at Etowah. From eighth grade through his sophomore year, he played at Sand Rock, which never made the 2A playoffs.

“And then I decided to transfer here and just love it so far,” St. Clair said. “Which is hard not to love it when you do stuff like this.”

Etowah scored in the first and third innings. St. John Paul II Catholic (25-13) scored on a throwing error in the sixth. Falcons starter Luke Songy (4-2) allowed five hits, two runs and had one strikeout and hit a batter in six innings.

“We leaned on Caleb a lot tonight. On the mound, he was just lights out,” Etowah’s second-year coach Blake Bone said. “It’s what he’s been for us his whole career. He’s that guy when you need to finish the series. He’s always been that leader for us. He’s just a dog. The runs weren’t coming the way they were last night. Again, our defense played stellar. It was great to see these guys have a great team effort. It’s not just one guy. We’re proud of a good team win.”

“I’m just very proud of our entire team for how they played and how they carried themselves the entire season,” St. John Paul II Catholic’s first-year coach Robby Seemann said. “I’m just very proud of all (seven) of our seniors for all they’ve done during their time here.

“We just couldn’t get any offensive consistency going throughout the entire game. Luke Songy (a junior) just had a great year for us. He battled his tail off today.”