By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Riverside capped its regular season in dominant fashion over host Belle Chasse in non-district action, a 15-4 win Wednesday that was the Lady Rebels’ ninth victory in their last 11 games. 

Riverside has earned the fifth seed in Class 2A. RA (14-11) will host Rosepine (22-6) at 4:30 p.m. Monday for a bi-district round playoff game. The winner of that game will face the winner of Hannan and French Settlement. 

The Rebels scored 10 runs over the first two innings, including seven in the second. Six Riverside players collected two hits or more and the Rebels hit three home runs in the game. 

Erica Delaneuville went 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs. Toni Perrin was 2 for 2 with a double, a home run and two RBIs and Jaime Milioto went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Hailey Tassin went 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Toni Hebert and Madison Watson each went 3 for 4, with Hebert notching an RBI. 

“We really responded with our bats today, right from the start,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “We ripped the game open with the way we swung it.”

Toni Hebert picked up the win on the mound, upping her record to 7-5 on the season. She struck out five while allowing four hits and walking two. 

Belle Chasse dropped to 11-15. 

Kristy Hebert pointed to the Riverside tournament two weeks ago as the true jumping off point for the Rebels’ recent hot stretch. At that tourney, Riverside pulled off late comeback victories over Vandebilt Catholic and Mount Carmel. 

“It’s propelled us through this point,” she said. “We’ve gotten good pitching and defensive play and one through nine, we’re swing the bats well. I will say, the top of our order has really stepped it up of late. They’re giving us the consistency that we need from them.”

 

******

VANDEBILT CATHOLIC 3, RIVERSIDE 1 — Another tight battle between the Rebels and Terriers commenced Tuesday, with Vandebilt (18-10) earning a walk-off victory with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

Peyton Sutton went 2 for 4 at the plate for Riverside. Toni Hebert went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Hebert pitched all eight innings for the Rebel, taking the loss. She struck out seven while allowing seven hits and walking four. 

It was the third time the two teams have faced off this season, with the Terriers winning two of the three matchups. 

In the Rebels’ win over Vandebilt two weeks ago, two key Terrier errors led to the game-tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. This time, Vandebilt Catholic cashed in on a pair of Riverside turnovers in the first inning, leading to a run that eventually forced extra innings.

“We stayed tough after those early mistakes,” said Kristy Hebert. “We got people on, but we never got that timely hit.”