MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / March 17, 1999

RESERVE – Brandon Delaneuville had a home run and two runs batted in as Riverside rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 6-3 win over Hahnville in the championship game of the Riverside Tournament Sunday afternoon.

Riverside improved to 10-1-1 overall after sweeping the tournament.

Hahnville took two of three in the tournament to improve to 7-4 overall.

Hahnville jumped on Riverside starter Chris Bourgeois for three runs in the top of the first. With one out, Brandon Kelly doubled to center field andadvanced to third on a wild pitch as Chris Hawkins walked. Kelly thencame in to score as Dewey Matherne ripped a single to right.

Greg Hogan followed with a single to center, scoring courtesy runner Dustin Roussell. Tiger starting pitcher Matt Caire (2-1) then helpedhimself, singling to right, bringing in Matherne to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Bourgeois got out of the jam by fielding Tim Sirmon’s grounder and turning the double play. Bourgeois then got in a groove, retiring six of the nextseven batters and holding the Tigers hitless over the next three innings.

He allowed four hits while walking three and striking out two in improving to 5-0 on the season.

“I thought he was making good pitches and Hahnville did a good job of hitting the ball the other way,” Riverside coach Marshall Crooks said of the first inning. “He stayed in there and kept throwing strikes and thedefense was able to help him out.”Bourgeois got into a jam in the fourth as Hogan walked, stole second by beating a pick-off attempt and went to third on a wild pitch with one out.

Sirmon followed with a grounder to Joey Poirrier at third. Poirrier caughtHogan off third and got him in a rundown with catcher Blake Duhe making the tag at the plate. Bourgeois then got Blake Matherne to ground out toshort to end the inning.

While Bourgeois was holding the Tigers in check, the Riverside batters were chipping into the deficit.

Keith LeBlanc led off the bottom of the first with a double to center and eventually came in to score on a single to right by Britt Waguespack. Cairegot out of further trouble by getting Ryan Rome to hit into a double play to Jeff Williams at short.

Delaneuville made it a 3-2 game in the bottom of the third, driving a 3-2 pitch by Caire over the left field wall.

Britt Waguespack led off the fourth with a grounder to Dewey Matherne in the first base hole and went to second as Matherne’s throw to Caire covering bounced off his glove. Rome then brought in Waguespack with thetying run with a single to center.

The Rebels loaded the bases with two outs on walks by Blake Duhe and LeBlanc. Delaneuville was then hit by a pitch, driving in Rome with the go-ahead run. Dustin Zimmer followed with a walk and Poirrier singled toshort to give the Rebels a 6-3 lead.

Poirrier came in to pitch the fifth inning and allowed a two-out single by Kelly before striking out Hawkins to end the inning. The Rebels loaded thebases in the bottom of the inning before the game was called due to the tournament’s time limit.

“It was a matter of us jumping on top and we couldn’t hold it,” Hahnville coach Britten Oubre said of Sunday’s game.

But the loss was the Tigers’ only blemish of the tournament. A home runby Kelly helped the Tigers overcome a 5-0 deficit for a 11-10 victory over Episcopal in the opener Friday. Ryan Post picked up the victory. The Tigers defeated Albany, 7-3, Sunday afternoon. Hogan picked up thewin and helped himself with a home run.

The tournament’s Saturday schedule was moved to Sunday because of rain.

Sunday’s action was played in temperatures in the 40s with the wind making it feel much colder.

“I thought we played real well,” Crooks said of his team’s performance in the tournament.

“I thought the pitching was good and we had some clutch hits from everybody. We’re happy to win our own tournament.”

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher