By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RIVER RIDGE – Friday’s John Curtis win over Riverside may have represented a measure of payback for the Patriots’ upset playoff loss to the Rebels a year ago.

But on Saturday, Riverside gave the Curtis a brand new reason to hold a grudge.

After being toppled 11-3 on Friday in Reserve, the Rebels upended hosting Curtis twice on Saturday, 5-2 and 2-1.

“We came back as a different team,” said Riverside coach Britt Waguespack, whose team allowed four unearned runs to begin Friday’s game. “On Friday, we were shocked. We’d been pitching well and playing good defense, then they come out and score five runs where the ball never left the infield.

“But when we left Saturday for their place, we went up with a bunch of guys ready to fill their role. We were confident in what we could do.”

Riverside is now 4-1 in its last five games.

While Friday’s contest spiraled out of control for Riverside (8-16-1, 2-4) due to numerous mistakes, the Rebels clearly got back to the drawing board on Saturday, getting a pair of exceptional pitching performances backed by some strong defensive play.

Curtis (19-9, 4-2) led the first of the two games 1-0 for four innings before the Rebels tied the game in the fifth on a Tate Scioneaux RBI.

“At that point, I thought it was there for the taking,” said Waguespack.

In the sixth, Riverside blew things open, scoring four runs go up 5-1.

With one out, Bryant Tassin walked, then Chase Bazile reached on an error. That set up Ritchie Terrio, who singled home both runners to give Riverside its first lead. After a wild pitch, Scioneaux’s RBI single made it 4-1, and Grady Geiger’s infield single plated the fifth and final Rebel run.

Scioneaux all but silenced the Patriot bats on the mound. He allowed just three hits and one earned run in a complete game effort. He struck out five. At the plate, he was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Terrio went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Bazile also went 2-for-4.

In the second contest, the Rebels’ Dylan Martin flirted with a perfect game for the first 6.1 innings of play before Curtis broke it up. The Rebels led 2-0 entering the seventh inning and the Patriots cut that lead in half when they scored via a Riverside error.

But Martin nailed down the final two outs to preserve his no-hitter.

The Rebels scored their first run on a Martin RBI single in the first inning, then the eventual winning run on Bazile’s RBI fielder’s choice grounder. That was set up by singles by Ricky Johnson and Austin Vicknair and a passed ball.

Martin finished the game 2-for-3.

Friday’s game saw Curtis score its first three runs on errors and a fourth on Gene Genevay’s infield hit.

Austin Vicknair cut Curtis’ lead to 4-1 on his RBI double in the third inning, then Dylan Becnel made it 4-2 on his sacrifice fly in the fourth.

But Curtis broke things open in the fifth on Bryan Perry’s RBI single and Cardell Silas’ three-run home run, making it 8-2. Perry would add another blast, a two-run homer, in the sixth.

Bryce Jenkins scored the win on the mound for Curtis, going the complete game. He tossed a two-hitter. Jenkins walked four and struck out six while allowing two earned runs. Tassin took the loss for Riverside.

Riverside struggled to begin the season, but all of a sudden sits at No. 4 in the Class 2A power rankings, two spots ahead of Curtis — and one spot behind fellow district rival St. Charles.

“This is one of the toughest district’s in Class 2A. Curtis, St. Charles, those are quality team. We’ve got a quality team. If you can make it in this district, I think you can make it anywhere,” said Waguespack.