J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO 1: St. Charles Lady Comet Ashley Reine slides into second base as Brusly Lady Panther Nikki Landry waits for the throw. (Staff Photo by J. Edmund Barnes) SULPHUR- In a day that had already seen heartbreak enough for local teams in the Louisiana State Softball Tournament, it fell to the St. Charles Catholic High School Lady Comets to uphold the honor of the River Parishes and advance to the semi-final round. On the last out of the last inning, the Lady Comets made a final, costly mistake – a wild throw from the short stop to the first baseman that went too high to field. The result was two unearned runs and the end of the game, with the Brusly Lady Panthers winning 3-2. “We played hard, we worked hard. We over came a lot of obsacles, and proved our strength,” said Lady Comet coach Michelle Dearmitt. “Losing’s never fun. One bad throw cost us the game.” Yet for most of the game it appeared that St. Charles Catholic would come away with a victory. The early innings were a defensive struggle between pitchers Heather Heltz (Lady Comets) and Jody Fitzgerald (Lady Panthers). PHOTO 2: Trisha Laparte of St. Charles Catholic makes contact with the ball as Brusly catcher Brittany Williams looks on. (Staff Photo by J. Edmund Barnes) The first inning saw both teams sending four batters to the plate. St. Charles Catholic advanced shortstop Jennie Traina to first on a bunt that was misfielded by Brusly third baseman Ashley Ward. She was left stranded though, as Heltz was retired immeditally afterward for the third out. Heltz walked Brusly second baseman Jeri Ann Collins in the bottom of the first, but made up for it by forcing her counterpart Fitzgerald to fly out to left field, and then catching centerfielder Ann Beth Lemoine looking for the strikeout. The second inning was a brutal three up, three down series with both teams retiring batters with almost prefunctory ease. Fitzgerald forced one fly ball and struck out two, while Heltz forced two pop ups and caught a hard-hit line drive that came right back at her. The third inning was the biggest offensively for St. Charles Catholic, with four consecuctive hits sending two runs home. Centerfielder Sarah Weber began the surge with a single to centerfield. She was followed by left fielder Katie Arcuri whose bunt dribbled down the third baseline but was good enough for a single. Both advanced on a passed ball before Traina hit an RBI single that saw Weber safe at home. Arcuri was sent home by another RBI single, this time by Heltz. The four singles by St. Charles Catholic proved to be their offensive swan song, though. The Brusly defense held St. Charles Catholic to just two more hits, and while both Arcuri and rightfielder Crissy Michel were able to advance to second base, neither were able to score. Brusly’s rally began in bottom of the fourth inning with a bunt by Collins that saw her safely to first. Advancing to second base on a fielders choice by Fitzgerald, Collins then scored on an RBI single by Lemoine. Between the fifth and sixth innings Brusly had runners on third base twice, only to see them stranded or put out at the plate. Finally, at the bottom of the seventh inning, Brusly short stop Nikki Landry advanced to first base on an error. Hitting next was Collins, whose fielder’s choice resulted in a dramatic play at the plate as left fielder Rachel Titore was tagged out sliding by catcher Ashley Reine. But in the most decisive play of the game Lady Comet short stop Traina fielded a two hop ground ball by Fitzgerald and threw it first baseman Amanda Cition. This throw would end the game either with the third out(and a St. Charles Catholic victory), or an error(with Brusly coming away with the win). It went high, too high to be fielded despite a valiant effort by Cition. Collins and Landry both scored, ending the game and giving Brusly a 3-2 victory. “It was a tough one,” said Dearmitt. “We were just inches off.”