By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

    Kelsi Roussel was nervous as she stepped to the plate in Riverside’s Class 2A regional playoff game with Menard.

All season, the Rebels’ had relied heavily on a veteran roster of juniors and seniors. But on Saturday, with two outs, a runner on second, and the game tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, the season rested on the bat of one of it’s youngest players in Roussel, only an eighth grader.

But that nervousness was put aside – Roussel crushed the ball to the outfield, and the Rebels’ Shea LaFountain was off to the races. She beat the Menard throw home, and the Rebels’ clichéd a trip to the State Softball Tournament in Sulphur, 3-2 winners at home in eight innings.

Riverside (23-13), the tournament’s no. 5 seed, will face No. 4 DeQuincy (23-9) on Friday in the quarterfinal round at 6 p.m. at Frasch Park.

Roussel collected all three Rebel RBIs on the day on two hits. Both hits were big, but the last is the one most will remember.

“I was kind of nervous,” said Roussel. “I was looking for a ball to drive, and I didn’t want to let the seniors down. It feels amazing.”

Marci Millet’s double with one out in the eighth set the Rebels up with a runner in scoring position. Ayla Vicknair followed with a grounder, and Millet was caught between second and third in a rundown. Menard recorded the out, but Vicknair advanced to second on the play.

Moments later, Riverside was set to return to Sulphur after missing out last season.

“To win this thing, you’ve got to be pretty good. And you’ve also got to be pretty lucky,” said Riverside Coach Mickey Roussel. “We were both. A game like today, anybody could have won it.”

Menard, last year’s 2A state runner-up, finished their season 20-11-1.

Millet finished 2-for-3 at the plate. Vicknair was 2-for-4.

Kelsi Roussel wasn’t the only young player to step up. After relieving starter Heidi Garcich in the first inning, freshman pitcher Chelsey Stein gave up only one run.

Stein struggled with control at times in the early portion of the game, but she got stronger as the day went on – she allowed only three baserunners over the final three innings.

“I was ready to keep going,” said Stein. “I knew I couldn’t stop and let everyone down.”

After the Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Riverside fired back in the bottom half of the inning. A walk by Millet preceded doubles by Vicknair and Roussel, the latter producing two RBIs.

The score remained 2-1 until Menard tied the game in the top of the fifth on a single.

Defensively, the Rebels made a number of clutch plays to strand Menard baserunners. Twice, the Eagles lined into inning-ending double plays. The Rebels did not make an error on the day.