MICHAEL KIRAL

RESERVE – The Lutcher Lady Bulldogs got an early season character check and came through with a third place finish at the Riverside Lady Rebel Classic Saturday afternoon. Lutcher (6-1) lost to Teurlings Catholic, 12-0, in a rematch of last year’s Class 3A semifinals Friday night but came back to get 3-0 victories over Berwick later that evening and Vandebilt Catholic Saturday afternoon to place second in its pool. The Lady Bulldogs then defeated Denham Springs, 4-3, in six innings to get third place. Brazoswood, Texas, the number one ranked team in the country, lost to Teurlings, 8-1, in the championship game Saturday evening. “We knew going into the tournament that it was going to be a tough tournament,” Lutcher head coach Helen Funk said. “The girls after getting beat by Teurlings could have laid down and died. But they showed a lot of character and a lot of composure in winning three more games and coming in third place. I’m proud of them. We have work to do but we are looking forward to a good season.” In the third place game against Denham Springs Saturday afternoon, the score was tied after five innings. Lindsay Louque was placed at second base under the tiebreaking rules and went to third on a ground out by Jennifer Kliebert. After Jennie Louque lined out sharply to short, Michelle Roussel grounded to short and reached on an errant throw as Louque scored to make it 4-3. In the bottom half of the inning with Amy Ford on second, Lutcher starter Carlie Humphries got Alaina Rancher and Jenny Dunkley to ground out and struck out Kayla Grisatte to pick up the win. Lutcher tied the game in the top of the fifth on a single to left by Ciji LeBlanc and one-out walk by Tiffany Arceneaux. Kassie Waguespack’s grounder to second moved them over and Cary Roussel brought in LeBlanc with a single to center to tie the score at 3. Lutcher had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as Arceneaux walked, went to second on Waguespack’s bunt and to third on Roussel’s single to right. Louque then bunted her in. Ford led off the bottom of the inning with a triple to right and scored on Rancher’s single to right to tie the score. Rancher was thrown out at second by LeBlanc on the play. Lutcher went back ahead in the third as Jennie Louque reached on an error to open the inning, went to second as LeBlanc was hit by a pitch by Rancher and scored on Arceneaux’s two-out single to center. Denham Springs scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. With one out, Rancher walked and went to second on Dunkley’s ground out to short. A single to right-center by Grisatte brought Rancher in with the tying run. Gisatte went to second on a wild pitch and scored with two outs as Karlyn Grisatte reached on an error. In the earlier game against Vandebilt to determine second place in Pool B, Roussel allowed just one hit and three baserunners in the 3-0 victory. Brittany Price singled to right with one out in the fifth for the Lady Terriers’ only hit. Roussel came back to get the next two batters to get the win. Humphries drove in all the runs Lutcher needed in the top of the third with a two-out, two-run single to right after Kliebert walked and Jennie Louque was hit by a pitch. The Lady Bulldogs added another run in the fifth on a one-out single by LeBlanc and a sacrifice fly to center by Waguespack. In other action in Pool B, Vandebilt Catholic defeated Berwick, 1-0, Friday night. Teurlings pulled away to a 9-0 victory over Teurlings Saturday morning, then came back with a 1-0 win over Berwick to finish as Pool B’s only 3-0 team.