By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

St. Charles has been no stranger to the come-from-behind victory this season, having pulled off the feat a number of times in 2008.

The stage seemed to be set for one more on Tuesday. But this time, Lutcher made sure that things would not follow the script.

Austin Roussel’s two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning gave Lutcher a 6-4 lead, and the Bulldogs would hold on for a 7-5 victory in the rivals’ District 9-3A opener.

“This was a crazy game,” said Lutcher Coach Davey Clement. “When these two teams meet, its always a crazy game.”

Crazy, it was indeed. It was a game in which one player — St. Charles’ Corey Reed — hit two home runs to give his team an early advantage. That advantage was all but erased when Lutcher (17-5, 1-0) put up more runs in one inning (six) than SCC put up on the afternoon.

If that wasn’t enough, an apparent-inning ending double play turned by St. Charles (13-7-2) was negated when the umpire ruled that there was no play at second. It resulted in Lutcher’s final run as Gavin Webster scored. Comets’ Coach Paul Waguespack was ejected for arguing the call.

All in all, the atmosphere created between the two rivals was one that Clement said his team would be better for experiencing.

“It was a playoff type atmosphere. That’s great preparation for the postseason,” he said.

It was Lutcher’s 13th win in 14 games.

St. Charles took a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Alex Marse led off with a single, followed by a Reed blast over the right field wall.

Brandon Becker would later reach and score after an attempted steal of second base. The attempted pick off throw by Webster went into the outfield, allowing Becker to round the bases and make it 3-0.

Reed’s second home run of the day came in the bottom of the third, and it appeared SCC had all the momentum with a 4-0 lead.

But the Lutcher bats got hot in a hurry. Quinn LeBlanc’s two-run double cut the SCC lead to 4-2. Jordan Hymel followed with an RBI double that made it 4-3.

Lutcher tied the game when Comets’ starter Donovan Duffy was called for a balk and Corey Poche scored. Roussel’s home run gave Lutcher its first lead of the game.

D.J. Wesley’s RBI double drew SCC within one in the bottom of the inning, but Lutcher answered in the next inning on the double-play ruling.

The Comets had runners in scoring position in each of the last three innings, but failed to get a runner across home plate.

“We left too many guys on base. It’s just frustrating,” said Waguespack. “They’re supposed to be the best in the district, and they won the game.

“I’m proud of how the kids competed. But someone just had to step up late, and it didn’t happen.”