BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

LAPLACE-In a battle between two winless teams, it was the Riverside Lady Rebels who picked up their first win of the 2005 season when they defeated St. Charles Catholic 5-4 Tuesday afternoon at Riverside.

The loss drops the Lady Comets to 5-4 on the season.

Making the transition to the circle on the softball diamond from a successful season on the basketball court, Mary Clement (0-1) took the loss for St. Charles Catholic.

Felicia Taylor was the leading hitter for the Lady Comets as she went 2-3.

St. Charles Catholic Head Coach David Lowry said his team had their fair share of chances against the Lady Rebels Tuesday afternoon.

“After one inning we were trailing 2-1 and they (Riverside) got five hits in the first inning,” Lowry said. “The game then kind of hit a little lull, but we left runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth inning. That is something you can’t do if you want to come away with a win.

“You have to credit Riverside’s pitching and their defense which was really solid. “We just couldn’t get the crucial hit.”

Despite falling behind, Lowry said his team had a chance to win the game in the end but just could not get the big hit in the key situation.

“We scored two runs in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 5-4 but we left the tying run at second base,” Lowry said. “We had two different opportunities to try and get that run across and we were unable to do that. We struck out swinging both times.

“It was one of those early season games where the team, and Riverside did it, that executed the best was going to come out on top with the victory. Credit them for doing that.”