BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

ST. JAMES-Down the stretch they come.

No, it’s not the Kentucky Derby.

It’s the Riverside Academy Baseball team.

Concluding the first half of district 10-2A action with a 3-1 record, the Rebels defeated St. James on Saturday, 7-4.

The win over the Wildcats gives Riverside a 16-7 overall record in addition to their solid 3-1 district standing.

Wade Delaneuville picked up the win on the mound for the Rebels, going five innings and allowing only five hits while striking out six and walking five.

With the game tied at three heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Rebels put a three spot on the board to put the game all but out of reach.

Jordan Poirrer had a solid day at the play, going 3-5 and Josh Labiche has a solid day as well, going 2-4 with three runs driven in. Labiche came in relief of Delaneuville for the final two innings.

Despite walking five batters, Riverside Head Coach Steve Stropolo was pleased with the performance he got out of Delaneuville on the mound.

“Wade pitched the ball well,” Stropolo said. “He threw the ball pretty consistently all day in five innings of work. He was at about 87-89 pitches before we put Labiche in to finish up. Overall, Wade threw the ball well.”

Although it did not come until late in the ballgame, Stropolo was happy with the offensive effort.

“We didn’t put a lot of runs on the board early,” Stropolo said. “We jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then just sat on it a while and before you knew it, it was 3-3. We finally got three in the sixth inning and pushed across another one in the seventh as insurance.

With only four district games remaining, Stropolo said he is confident that his team know what they have to do in order to come out with the type of seed for the playoffs that they want.

“We know everybody and what we have to do,” Stropolo said. “Once you go through it one time and get a feel for what it is like I think you play better the second time around. Of course you have to if you want to make it into the playoffs.

“Having everyone together now for a significant amount of time is also positive.”