By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
LAPLACE – West St. John put together its second three-game win streak of the season with a 5-4 victory at Ascension Catholic Tuesday, one that puts the Rams within striking distance of second place in District 9-1A.
Keith Miller’s fifth inning RBI single proved the game-winner in a matchup that provided many runs early before a pitcher’s duel broke out; WSJ led 4-3 after the first inning, but the two teams combined for just two more runs thereafter.
“The things we’ve looked for all year long were the things we’ve been starting to see from our team,” said West St. John coach Juan Joseph. “We finally played a game like we did when we beat East St. John. Our guys left school ready to play. They were focused on playing a full seven innings. When they’re focused like that, we can play at a pretty high level.”
Austin Howard went the distance, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks. He struck out eight and earned the victory.
At the plate, Howard and Miller each collected two hits and an RBI. Timothy Nelson also finished with a pair of hits. Lavanta Augusta collected a hit and two RBIs while Dontre Turner also registered a hit and an RBI.
West St. John collected 10 hits on the game.
The victory followed a pair of wins last Saturday for the Rams, as WSJ took a 5-1 and 10-3 victories over East Iberville in a road doubleheader.
Joseph said a renewed focus on the simple things has given the Rams a lift.
“Cutting down on walks and the simple, avoidable errors that crop up has really helped us,” said Joseph. “Not giving away outs and putting people on ourselves, just cutting down on that goes a long way in this game.”
West St. John has improved to 6-6 overall with a 3-4 mark in district. All three wins in the streak were District 9-1A victories.
Thursday’s scheduled game with White Castle was rained out and has been rescheduled for April 20; the Rams and Bulldogs will play a doubleheader. WSJ returns to action today when it travels to Helen Cox.
Tuesday, WSJ will host Ascension Christian at 4 p.m. If the Rams win that game, coupled with an Ascension Christian win over Ascension Catholic, WSJ can pull into a tie for second place in district play.