By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – East St. John defeated Ben Franklin 13-4 on Monday, rebounding from a winless effort at the Chalmette tournament over the weekend.

The Wildcats rode on the back of a seven-run second inning that established a 9-1 lead. East St. John scored runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to close the Falcons out.

Daniel Franklin went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Ashton Lewis was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Lewis pitched and went five innings, allowing two earned runs. He struck out six.

At the Chalmette tournament, East St. John lost 7-0 to John Ehret, 10-0 to Chalmette and 8-6 to Morgan City.

“We wanted to protect home field,” said ESJ coach Ronald August. “We’re 2-0 here and we want to continue that.”

One factor in the improved play Monday was that ESJ is back at full strength. Leadoff hitter LeBaron Sylvester and cleanup hitter Andrew Taylor both missed the weekend tourney that saw the Wildcats shut out twice. For Sylvester, it was his fourth game of the year.

“We’ve finally got the team together,” said August. “I was disappointed in how we played over the weekend. We didn’t focus. We had too many mental errors. We walked too many.

“We did a much better job (Monday).”

East St. John begins district play next Tuesday against St. Amant. They will have a final tuneup at the South Terrebonne tournament on Thursday and Friday. It will face South Terrebonne Thursday at 3:30 p.m. then Terrebonne at 6:30 p.m. On Friday, the Wildcats will face H.L. Bourgeois at 4 p.m.