By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles Catholic coach Ty Monica has said that his Comets are not relying on any one pitcher to win games this season — it will be by committee, he said,  and multiple players must be ready to step up when called upon, including some of the team’s youngest athletes. 

On Monday, 8th grader Jade Brady was up to the task.

Entering the game with two on, none no outs in the seventh inning and her team up three, Brady retired the final three batters of the game to earn the save in a 10-8 Comets victory over former district rival E.D. White.

“This game was our season in a nutshell. It had a bunch of emotional highs and lows,” said St. Charles coach Ty Monica. “We’ve had to deal with adversity and we’ve had to learn to handle success. It’s the tale of our season.”

The Comets (16-7) clinched the win when E.D. White’s Gabi LeBlanc hit a short ground ball to the left side of the infield with two outs in the seventh. Brady fielded it and quickly flipped the ball to catcher Morgan Nobile, who applied the tag to Lindsie Sanders on a play at the plate for the third and final out of the inning. 

“It definitely felt close to me,” said Nobile. “I wasn’t thinking she’d throw it to me right there but I got ready for it anyway.”

Nobile delivered in a big way with her bat as well. Her two out single in the sixth inning produced two runs and put St. Charles up 10-7, while an RBI single in the second helped the Comets build a quick 3-0 lead.

Brady walked the first batter she faced but quickly retired the next three batters, getting two groundouts sandwiched around a strikeout. 

“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Brady. “I know I’m on and off at times (with location), but I knew this was important not just to me but to our entire team. I just wanted to make them proud.” 

Said Monica, “She throws the hardest of all five of our pitchers. She came up big … I’ve told them, at this point in the season, you freshmen are no longer freshmen. You sophomores are no longer sophomores. And in her case, you’re no longer an 8th grader.”

E.D. White (14-9) scored three runs in the fourth inning to tie the game on RBIs by Avery Sanders and Anna Rodenberg and a Comets error. However, the Comets escaped what could have been a bigger inning when Jessica Mire tracked down a fly ball in center field then threw out Sanders at home plate.

“That settled us back down and turned momentum back a little bit for us,” said Monica. 

From there, fans were treated to a roller coaster of a game. Emily Triche doubled and Destiny Wesley singled her home to put SCC back on top in the fourth, but the Cardinals answered on Sydney Bordis’ 3-run home run in the fifth to make it 6-4. Triche drove home another run in the fifth but MacKenzie Gros’ solo home run tacked on another for E.D. White. 

“We knew we had to pick up our intensity,” said Nobile. 

The Comets charged back for good in the sixth.  Wesley and Mire led off with back to back singles before Kaitlyn Lowry was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Paige Williams lined out, but not before Wesley scored on a passed ball to make it 7-6. Danielle Rankin walked, then after a Madison Cochran fly out Sara Louque drew a walk to bring home the tying run. 

“(Louque) had two at-bats for us that will go unnoticed, but they were huge,” said Monica. “She draws two out walks in the fifth and the sixth that brought Emily back to the plate, extended innings where we put across runs.’

“We did a lot of damage today with two outs. It’s what this game came down to.”

That brought Triche back to the plate and she drew a walk of her own to push SCC ahead. Then Nobile delivered a single to plate the Comets’ final two runs, creating the cushion they needed.

“She’s been swinging the bat pretty well for us,” said Monica. “I was a little upset with her early on for (a defensive mistake) … I jumped on her about it. She handled it well and really responded.”

 

 

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COMETS DROP TWO ON ROAD — St. Charles fell to a pair of highly ranked teams on Saturday, dropping a 5-2 decision to Parkview Baptist, then an 8-7 game to Catholic-Pointe Coupee.

Both games were played at Parkview Baptist. 

Against Catholic Pointe-Coupee, Triche went 3 for 3. Wesley, and Lowry each collected two hits. Lowry and Mire each doubled in the game.

Against Parkview Baptist, Wesley highlighted the action with a double.