By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

MONROE – St. Charles returned from its weekend road trip to Monroe on a high, going 4-0 and moving its record to 7-3 this season.

The Comets defeated Episcopal-Baton Rouge 3-0, Ouachita Christian 4-3, Claiborne Christian 12-2 and Vermilion Catholic 9-5 to secure a perfect record on the trip.

SCC has now won six straight games.

The win over Episcopal was fueled in large part by the pitching performance of Jared Keating (1-1), who pitched a one-hitter and a shutout. Keating allowed an infield hit against the first batter he faced, then allowed only a walk the rest of the way. The lefthander struck out 12 .

Marc Picciola led SCC at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Shane McNeil went 2-for-2. Grant Authement doubled and drove in two runs and Brandon Becker went 1-for-2, scoring two runs.

Picciola came though again against OCS, this time with a clutch base hit in the fifth inning that brought home McNeil to score the eventual winning run. SCC scored all four of its runs in the inning.

Henri Faucheux earned his second save, pitching the final 1.1 innings. He allowed a baserunner in the seventh but then struck out the side. Cody McMurray picked up the win in relief.

Authement hit a solo home run. Picciola was 2-for-4.

SCC scored 11 runs in the first three innings in a dominant 12-2 win over Claiborne Christian.

Nick Reine was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs. Becker collected two RBIs. Authement connected on an RBI double and Keating delivered a home run.

McMurray started and pitched three scoreless innings to notch the win.

Finally, the Comets halted a Vermilion Catholic rally to ride a late surge to a 9-5 win.

SCC led 4-0 before Vermilion Catholic trimmed its deficit to 4-3 on a single and a pair of doubles. Brady Hitt stopped the bleeding, coming on in relief to get out of the inning.

The Comets slammed the door in its half of the fifth, scoring five runs, all with two outs. After Nick Reine’s double started things off, Matt Bonnecarre doubled in a run.

Matt Eymard hit an RBI single, then Hitt singled home two. Picciola singled home his team’s fifth and final run.

Picciola went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. He picked up the win on the mound, striking out four batters in three innings. Hitt finished the game, picking up the save. He struck out seven and walked noone in four innings.