By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Just two games into the District 9-2A season, Riverside sits firmly in the driver’s seat.

The Rebels lead John Curtis by a game and defending district champion St. Charles by two after holding off a late Comet rally Thursday in a 3-2 victory at St. Charles.

St. Charles scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to draw within one, but Riverside pitcher Destin Vicknair got SCC’s Karli Terrio to ground out to end the game and secure the Rebel win.

The Rebels (10-1, 2-0) improved to 2-0 in the district, with wins over its top district competition in Curtis and SCC.

St. Charles (7-3), conversely, finds itself in an unfamiliar 0-2 hole after losses to Curtis and Riverside this week.

“The one thing I stressed to the girls was that we had a chance to create some distance,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “If we win, we’re two ahead of them. If we lose, we drop into a three-way tie for first … I’m proud of the girls. This is a big rivalry and you can’t afford to take an inning off or even a pitch.”

Said St. Charles coach Ty Monica: “They were better than us, no question. They made the plays they were supposed to make and they took advantage of our mistakes.

“Something’s going to have to change. And it’s not so much physically, but in our mental approach.”

Riverside took a 3-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a clutch hit by Katie Bailey – the Rebels’ catcher came up with two outs, following a Taylor Terrio triple and a Destin Vicknair walk. Bailey drove the ball to the outfield and brought both runners home via a double, extending a 1-0 Rebel lead to 3-0.

The Rebels had chances to perhaps put the game away in the next two innings, but the Comets made the plays they needed to stay within striking distance. With two on and two out in the fourth, Kelsi Roussel was thrown out at home by SCC centerfielder Kati Duhe. Then, in the fifth, Shea LaFountain, Vicknair and Bailey all reached to load the bases with no outs, but SCC pitcher Megan Louque and the Comet defense notched two pop ups and a ground out to escape with no damage.

“We left some people in scoring position,” said Hebert. “We need to be able to score in those situations, but they did a good job getting out of it.”

SCC, likewise, had a chance to make a big push in the fifth inning. Katie Terrio singled, Heather Orillion walked and Karli Terrio singled to load the bases with two outs. But Vicknair struck out Kati Duhe to end the threat.

The Comets had one final shot in the seventh. Emily Triche led off with a single, then Katie Terrio’s RBI triple made it 3-1. Orillion’s sacrifice fly brought her home to make it 3-2.

“We made some big plays,” said Hebert. “In the seventh, I just told them to calm down. We’re still up by two, even with the runner on third.

“We just needed to execute and we stepped up when we needed to.”

Riverside got on the board in the first inning, scoring on a Vicknair RBI double that plated Taylor Terrio, who walked to lead off the game.

“I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the game,” said Vicknair. “But once we scored in the first, I calmed down. It took a lot of pressure off.”

Riverside opened district nine days ago with a victory at John Curtis, 5-2.

Vicknair pitched the complete game, striking out eight and allowing six hits. She also had a double and an RBI.

Bailey had a home run in the game.

Riverside scored the deciding runs in the sixth inning.

Riverside defeated Central Catholic Tuesday in a non-district clash, 7-1.

Bourgeois had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. LaFountain went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Vicknair pitched four innings and allowed no hits, striking out six. Chelsey Stein started, going three innings and allowing one run on three hits. She struck out three.

Curtis took a 5-4 win over St. Charles on Tuesday.

Monica said that the game was another example, like the Riverside game, of his team needing to take better advantage of scoring situations. St. Charles scored four runs on 10 hits.

“We left nine people on base. You can’t have that against good teams,” said Monica.