By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

St. Charles suffered a 5-0 loss to district rival John Curtis on the Patriots home field Thursday, giving the Comets their first loss in 10-2A play this season.

The loss puts SCC into a two-way tie for the district lead with Riverside as both squads have compiled a 5-1 record through league play. The two are set to meet Tuesday this week in LaPlace with the final game of the series set for April 17 at Riverside

In Thursday’s game, the Comets just couldn’t get anything going against Curtis’ starting pitcher Kelby Wuertz, who threw a two-hitter.

Steven Duhe kept his team in it as he got the start on the mound for the Comets. Duhe gave up just four hits in the game. But the Patriots took advantage of five errors committed by SCC.

The loss splits the pair played this week as St. Charles picked up a victory against Donaldsonville Tuesday. SCC has this weekend off after playing five games over the course of seven days.

The Comets built up a head of steam in their Tuesday game against Donaldsonville earlier this week, scoring runs in each of the four innings that the Comets batted in en route to a 15-0 win.

With two runs in the first, three in the second and four in the third, SCC took a 9-0 lead into the top of the fourth. SCC added insurance in the bottom of the fourth when they posted six after Matt Walters knocked in the final runs of the game with a single down the third base line. Jon Bonura, who tossed a one-hitter through four and a half innings, kept the pressure on in the top of the fifth to ice the Tigers.

Walters led St. Charles in the victory with three hits for three RBIs. Marc Picciola had three hits as well, knocking in a pair of runners in the process. Bonura, Steven Duhe, Brandon Becker and Kyle Faucheux each had one hit apiece.

The Comets went to 5-0 in district play with the win, good for a game lead over Riverside. But the two 2A St. John Parish squads will meet this Tuesday where the Rebels will be looking to pull into a 10-2A tie. SCC won the first meeting between the two squads with an 11-0 win on Thursday last week. The Comets stand at 15-6-1 on the year.