By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – With two games remaining in the regular season, St. Charles entered Monday’s home game with Central Catholic looking to generate some momentum before the postseason.

It didn’t take long for the Comets to assert themselves. SCC batted around twice, once in the first inning then again in the fourth, on its way to a 14-3 victory in five innings by the 10-run rule.

The win came on the Comets’ senior day. Senior Megan Louque (19-5) earned the win on the mound and hit a home run, collecting four RBIs. Fellow senior Katie Terrio was 2 for 2 with two RBIs.

“We’re trying to get that spark back,” said Louque. “We know we have to compete at our highest level, no matter who we play now, because we’re going to be seeing some great teams.”

St. Charles coach Ty Monica said that he and his team are trying to “right the ship,” noting that he feels the Comets haven’t been playing to their best standard in recent games.

Despite the win, he said that Tuesday’s game still left plenty of room for improvement.

“You can give a lot of reasons as to why, but we just weren’t into it today like we needed to be,” said Monica. “We didn’t play as well as we should. Central Catholic isn’t a bad 1A team by any means, and they came out and competed. But our intensity has to pick up tremendously.”

The Comets (19-5) started fast after singles by Kati Duhe and Chelsea Loupe. Duhe scored from third on a double steal to make it 1-0. Louque singled and advanced to second on a throw home, setting up Raven Becnel’s two-RBI single to left to push the lead to 3-0. With two outs, Karli Terrio singled, then Katie Terrio doubled to center to plate two more runs and SCC led 5-0 after the first.

Central Catholic (7-20-2) cut into the lead in the second on Gee Garrett’s blast to centerfield, an RBI double with two outs that made it 5-1.

Louque got that run back for her team with a solo home run to center that cleared the fence with room to spare in the bottom of the second.

“I was very relaxed today,” said Louque. “I think that was in my favor. I just saw the pitch and let my mechanics work for themselves.”

The Eagles weren’t done pushing, though, and scored a pair of runs in the third inning after Amanda Barron led off with a triple. Abbie Begeron singled her home to make it 6-2, and Hailee Thomas connected on an RBI single of her own to cut the lead to 3.

But it was the last time Central Catholic would threaten. The third inning saw Karli Terrio, Katie Terrio and Heather Orillion reach to load the bases on a single, walk and error respectively. Duhe singled home a run with one out to make it 7-3. Then Loupe found a hole through the middle to single home two more runs.

“We were swinging it like we needed to,” said Katie Terrio. “Everyone wants to finish on a good note before the playoffs.”

Then in the fourth, Raven Becnel reached on an error to lead off and Karli Terrio singled in a run to make it 10-3. Katie Terrio singled, and Duhe followed suit with two outs to load the bases. Loupe collected her third RBI on a single to make it 11-3. Then Louque landed the big hit, doubling and clearing the bases to make it 14-3.

St. Charles entered the day ranked 10th in Class 2A power points. SCC’s playoff position is cemented as such, but Monica said his team’s eventual seeding is completely up in the air, as a coach’s vote will determine that.

“I’ve heard a lot of things. One coach has us as high as fourth,” said Monica. “So I don’t know. When you talk about the top 12 teams or so in 2A, anybody can come out and beat anyone else. So where you fall in there, who knows. We’ll see.”