By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Riverside’s Mason Vicknair started a game off Thursday just as he’d ended one on Wednesday — by slamming one out of the ballpark. 

Vicknair’s two-run blast in the first inning got Riverside’s offense charged up and the Rebels went on to score in every inning thereafter en route to a 12-0 District 10-2A win over host St. James Thursday.

It came just one day after the Rebels emerged with a 3-2 win over Berwick in a game that saw Vicknair hit a walk-off home run to secure a non-district win for his team.

“I’m just seeing the ball really well right now,” said Vicknair, who went 3 for 3 with three RBIs Thursday. “I struggled early in the season with my bat. I was hitting it right at people. But I adjusted and now I’m seeing it.”

The Rebels have won seven straight games after beginning the season with a record of 3-9. 

“We started believing in ourselves,” said Vicknair.

Riverside (10-9) finished St. James (4-11) in five innings due to the 10-run rule.

Sean Mohon tossed a complete game shutout, allowing six hits while striking out seven.

“I was hitting all my spots,” said Mohon, who improved his record to 3-0 with the win. “Guys were making plays behind me. It didn’t hurt that I was able to start off with a good lead.”

Riverside scored on a passed ball to make it 3-0 after an inning, and Riverside kept adding to the lead from there. In the second, T.J. St. Pierre doubled in two runs to make it a 5-0 Rebels lead.

The Rebels chased St. James starter Cody Hymel in the third but scored two more runs off of reliever Chaz Rodrigue after Jeremiah Berteau, Tyler Gauthier and Vicknair all got consecutive hits, Vicknair’s a double to deep center field.

After back to back two-out singles by Cameron Bivona and Jordan Loving and a walk by Berteau loaded the bases in the fourth, Gauthier delivered a two-RBI single to push the lead to 9-0. Two more runs came around to score on a St. James error on a ball hit by Nick Delaneuville. 

Loving drove in RA’s final run in the 5th inning on a groundout after Chase Wallace led off the frame with a double. 

St. James’ Houston Wiggins finished 2 for 3 at the plate, including a double. Hymel also collected a double. 

“We played in some very difficult tournaments early this season and it kind of exposed our pitching, how young it is,” said Riverside coach Matt White. “We’ve been playing some pretty good baseball lately, though. Our staff and team is coming together and you can see the confidence our guys are playing with right now.”

Riverside will travel to face Brother Martin today in non-district action. On Tuesday, the Rebels will host Newman to kick off the second round of district play for 10-2A. 

 

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RIVERSIDE 3, BERWICK 2 — Vicknair’s walk-off home run in the bottom of  the seventh inning turned back a Berwick (14-8, 4-0) rally that saw a 2-0 Rebels lead erased in the sixth inning.

Vicknair earned the win in relief for Riverside after coming on to close out the sixth inning. Brandon Hymel started for Riverside and tossed five innings, allowing one hit and walking two. Hymel struck out three. 

RA tallied five hits offensively. Bivona went 1 for 2 with an RBI double for Riverside.