By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After last season’s appearance in the Class 2A state semifinals, St. Charles has opened up 2008 on the right foot.

After a come from behind, 7-6 win at Covington on Wednesday, St. Charles moved to 2-0 Thursday with a 10-0, 10-run rule win over East St. John in six innings at SCC.

Still, St. Charles Coach Ty Monica says there is work to be done.

“I don’t think we’ve been playing like we’re capable,” said Monica. “We made five errors (on Wednesday). We’ve been sluggish, and have a lot of room for improvement.

“You could say it’s early in the season, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse.”

Against Covington (0-1), St. Charles needed some late inning heroics to start the year on a winning track. With the Lions leading 6-5 in the seventh inning, Lauren Coniglio tripled to right field to set up Katie Reine. Reine hit a ground ball to second, and Coniglio slid and beat the throw home to tie the game.

Katie Tregre bunted Reine to second to put her in scoring position. Ashley Trosclair then came up and hit a ground ball to shortstop, but the ball was overthrown to first and Reine scored the game winner.

Courtney Western (1-0) picked up her first victory of the year after coming on in relief of Trosclair.

Western went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored 2 runs. Jessie Braud was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Coniglio picked up an RBI and Reine had two RBIs.

Trosclair (1-0) would pick up the victory at home against East St. John (0-2), aided first by a six run second inning that put the Comets in the driver’s seat.

First, Tregre and Braud scored after Elizabeth Jackson reached on an error, making it 2-0. Jennifer Heltz walked, and Jackson would score on a Courtney Western sacrifice.

Braud came up and singled, driving in both runners to make it 5-0. Coniglio finished off the scoring in the second with her own RBI single.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the sixth. Western singled to knock in Tregre and Jackson who reached singled and walked, respectively. Braud‘s 2-RBI single made it 9-0, and Reine finished the game with a single to right to bring in the 10th and final run.

Braud finished 2-for-3. Coniglio was 1-for-2 with two walks. Tregre was 2-for-3.

Trosclair struck out six in the start.

“Today, we were a little more focused,” said Coniglio. “We played more to our level. As long as we stay focused and united, we can go far.”

East St. John’s Stacy Sutton (0-2) struck out six St. Charles batters, while walking five and allowing six hits.

East St. John struggled defensively, committing five errors in the game.

“We had two bad innings. There were a lot of mental errors,” said East St. John Coach Monica Hebert. “We dropped a couple balls, and in return, we didn’t do the job at the plate.”

ESJ’s Seymone McKinney went 2-for-3 in the game. Troyonne Kendrick went 1-for-3.

On Monday, East St. John traveled to Terrebonne and fell 4-2 to the Tigers.

Kendrick went 2-for-3, including a double, with two RBIs in the game. Jessica Brown was 1-for-3.

Sutton struck out seven and allowed two walks and three hits, but took her first loss.

Kendrick gave East St. John a 1-0 lead in the first inning when she doubled and knocked in McKinney.

But Terrebonne scored twice in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Kendrick tied the game with a single, which brought in Sutton, in the fourth inning. But Terrebonne answered in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two deciding runs.

Hebert said that the Wildcats faced tough pitching in each game, which should help prepare them for a tough district schedule.

“These are teams similar to the teams we’ll face in district,” she said. “That’s why I’m glad we’re playing teams at this level.”