By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a River Parish baseball showdown, as the Riverside hosted Fatty’s Invitational kicks off at 3:30 p.m.

Games will take place at three sites from Thursday to Sunday: at Riverside, St. Charles Catholic and Lutcher.

Those three schools will be prominently involved, as well as Thibodaux and H.L. Bourgeois.

“This is all about getting the top teams in this area together for a showdown,” said Riverside Coach Britt Waguespack. “We have teams here in the River Parishes that are very successful year in and year out, and we want to showcase a high level of competition.

“We want this thing to be a big time tournament, something comparable to the Jay Patterson shootout that you see in Ascension Parish, one of the biggest tournaments of the year.”

The action will kick off on Thursday as Thibodaux (4-6) travels to Lutcher (6-4), and Bourgeois (3-4) makes its way to Riverside (3-6-1). Both games begin at 3:30 p.m.

Then, on Friday, Thibodaux will go to Riverside, and Bourgeois will play at St. Charles (6-3-1), each at 3:30 p.m.

On Saturday, all the action moves to Riverside. Bourgeois will face St. Charles again at 10 a.m. Then Lutcher and Thibodaux will square off at 12:30 p.m.

Finally, Lutcher and Riverside will square off in the first intra-parish matchup at 3 p.m.

The action concludes on Sunday, as St. Charles and Riverside meet for the second time this season at 3 p.m. The other matchups and times weren’t available at press time and will be in Saturday’s issue.

Waguespack says that he expects some competitive fire from the local teams.

“This is what you prepare all year for,” he said. “You prepare to try and make a run at the state title, and you prepare for your local rivals.

“These kids are friends, they go to movies, and they talk about how their teams are doing. This is what gives them an opportunity to say, “We’re the best”. It’s what makes the River Parishes so competitive, and it’s all together for a weekend.”