By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Riverside fought to a virtual draw with South Beauregard this past weekend, as the teams split a pair of games on Saturday at South Beauregard.

The Knights won the first game 10-2, but the Rebels responded in the second with a 9-7 win in eight innings.

“I think we get a good job coming back from the loss,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “There was a JV game in the middle of the two  games, and we kept our concentration.”

Riverside scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning to notch its win, after South Beauregard had tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.

The Rebels had 14 hits in the second game, led by Bridget Petit, who went 4-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Heidi Garcich went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Riverside.

Chelsey Stein earned the victory in her first action of the season, pitching all eight innings. After pitching the majority of the Rebels games down the stretch as an eighth grader a year ago, Stein (1-0) had missed the early part of this season rehabbing an injury.

“She threw it well for her first game back,” said Hebert. “She’ll be fine. It was good to see her be able to throw eight innings in her first game back.”

Riverside scored three runs in the first inning to set the tone for the victory.

“It gave us the momentum we needed,” said Hebert.

South Beauregard’s 10-2 victory earlier in the day came in large part to a solid effort at the plate – the Knights tallied 14 hits.

Hebert said that combined with some defensive errors and baserunning mistakes by her own team, South Beauregard’s hitting helped push the game out of hand.

“It wasn’t a well-played game at all for us,” she said. “We put our backs against the wall.”

Destin Vicknair (5-2) took the loss for Riverside.