By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

St. James rolled up an eight-run first inning and rode the momentum from there to beat West St. John 14-3 in Edgard on Saturday afternoon.

Deonti Barre (0-1) took the loss for West St. John (0-1) after starting his first career game.

“It’s to be expected. You’re young, you’re gonna take your lumps,” said West St. John coach Lennix Madere. “We walked too many in that first inning, and it caught up to us.”

The Wildcats added four more runs in the top of the third and two more in the fourth to take a 14-1 lead.

Dontre’ Turner led West St. John at the plate. He went 3-for-3 with three doubles and two RBIs. Kenneth Taylor homered for WSJ.

West St. John scored its first run when Turner doubled Barry Hanson in after Hanson walked to reach base.

The Rams tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning on Taylor’s home run and another Turner double – again plating Hanson, who this time reached on a single.

Madere said that with many starters still out due to the Rams ongoing basketball playoff run, a lot of young players are being forced to learn on the fly.

But some are beginning to step up. Turner, an eighth grader, had a big day. Fellow eighth grader Timothy Nelson did a solid job filling in at third base for Hanson, who pitched in relief. And a third eighth grader, Damon Pierce, came through in right field.

“They really played well,” said Madere. “These kids are promising, but it’ll just take us some time. None of these kids are quitters. They’re gonna play hard.”