By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RIVER RIDGE – John Curtis is a different team at home, St. Charles coach Ty Monica cautioned his team entering its District 9-2A matchup with the Patriots on Thursday. While Curtis struggled in the first meeting between the teams in LaPlace (a 15-0 Comets win), Monica wanted his team prepared for a much tougher game this time.

While the Patriots kept things closer, it still wasn’t nearly enough.

St. Charles rode a steady wave of production over seven innings to capture a 10-1 win and move to 6-0 in district play.

“I don’t think we played one of our better games,” said St. Charles coach Ty Monica. “But Curtis plays like a completely different team at their place. Just to go in and get a win is a good thing.”

SCC remained alone in first place in 9-2A prior to Tuesday’s scheduled game with Riverside (after press time).

The Comets moved to 18-3 on the season with the win. Curtis dropped to 10-8 overall, 1-4 in district.

Courtney Western made an impact on the mound and at the plate, striking out eight while allowing one run on four hits and three walks. With the bat, she helped her own cause by going 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Megan Louque went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Meg Gustafson and Kadie Levatino each drove in two runs. Jaymie Remondet went 2-for-3.

SCC scored three runs in the first inning and two in the second. It scored a run in each of the fourth and sixth innings and added a three-run inning in the fifth.

“We ended up with about 13 hits, but we left a lot of runners on base,” said Monica. We’d have liked to play a little better, but they had a lot to do with that.”

St. Charles will finish the regular season with a difficult stretch. After a district game with Haynes Thursday, SCC will face five foes with winning records – South Beauregard, Hahnville, Vandebilt Catholic, Lutcher and Covington, teams with a combined 82-37 record.

Along with Tuesday’s Riverside game, it adds up to a stern series of tests for a rolling Comet team.

“All of those teams are going to be in Sulphur,” said Monica. “If we’re not playing well, we could lose six of those last seven games. We’ve got a big road ahead.”