BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

LUTCHER-When your 7-1 on the season, you get to be a picky head coach.

Riverside Head Coach Steve Stropolo’s Rebels went a perfect 3-0 this past weekend in the Lutcher tournament to run their record to 7-1 on the season.

Riverside defeated Albany, 14-0, South Terrebone, 7-3 and Lutcher 4-2.

Happy to come away with the three wins, Stropolo said his team still has a lot that they have to work on.

“We played pretty good,” Stropolo said. “The Lutcher game was kind of a nail biter at the end. We made a couple of errors in the last inning with two outs which we can’t do.

“Lutcher was able to load the bases with their best hitter up, but luckily we were able to get out of that tough situation. We have to realize that is not going to happen every time and we may end up losing a game like that down the road when it really matters. Overall, we played well through the entire week I thought.”

Putting the ball in play more and striking out less is also a big concern that the Rebels Head Coach with the start of district play approaching.

“We cannot continue to strike out at the plate as much as we are doing right now,” Stropolo said. “That is definitely the first thing we have to work on. We also have to fix our base-running problems because we did not run the bases well this past weekend.

“We struck out nine times this weekend and walked only seven times. For the year we have struck out 38 times and walked only 30 times. We just cannot do that and expect to win. We have to walk more than we strike out.”

Pointing out several things that his team still must work on, Stropolo remained positive saying his team still is winning despite playing their best; the sign of a good team.

“I am happy that we won,” Stropolo said. “But we are still not where we want to be. That is the main concern that I have. We have to be able to put the ball in play or draw a walk. That has to change if we are to be successful this season.”