By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

LAPLACE – St. Charles High School was abuzz Thursday afternoon as the two top ranked teams in Class 2A, Riverside and SCC, went head-to-head in their first district match-up. Home team fans saw their team take a four-run second inning, powered by a three-run double by Michael Olasin, and hold off the Rebel assault for a 5-2 win.

St. Charles (12-5, 3-0) maintained their hold of first place in district with the victory and remain perfect after the first week of district play. The Rebels dropped to 11-3-2 on the season, but are on SCC’s heels with a 3-1 record in district.

The team’s traded innings in the first and no one had broken onto the scoreboard until Chris Waguespack hit an RBI single with one out to give St. Charles a 1-0 lead. Roland Ricca reached base two batters later after he was hit by a pitch and Rebel pitcher Jordan Porrier walked a runner to load the bases for Olasin. His three-run double moved the score to 4-0 and came after Rebel first baseman Wade Delaneuville tried to snag a hit, but the ball took a strange bounce off of his glove before htting him in the face and deflecting away from the player who writhed in pain

while runners scored, but didn’t miss any action. Matt Heltz added another point for the Comets in the fifth.

The Rebels threatened with runners in scoring range in several different innings, but they could only manage to bring in one to home plate. That came in the sixth inning when Porrier knocked ruined Oncale’s no-hitter. But SCC pitcher Steven Duhe came in to relieve starter Michael Oncale and got out of a jam.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again for their second of three district games in two weeks at Riverside.

The Comets were next set to host a non-district game against Hahnville yesterday, but those results were unavailable as of press time. They are scheduled to play an away game against St. James today.