BY RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

It was the type of score you’d expect from a football game. But while West St. John didn’t have to “go for two” to take a 22-21 win over Reserve Christian on Monday in Edgard, the final inning certainly provided that type of drama.

The Rams erased a four-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, the fourth run coming on a misplayed infield fly ball by Reserve. The fifth and deciding run was scored by Jasmine Young after a passed ball.

The Rams trailed 19-11 entering the bottom of the sixth inning. But while it was another example of West St. John falling into a deep hole this season, the game was also a repeat statement that the team is never completely out of it.

“We know we’re never out of a game,” said Ormoni Favorite, who was 5-for-6 with three RBIs and four steals in the game. “We might slip up early, but we know how to come back. Coach always tells us to not get down on ourselves, no matter how bad it gets.”

After RBIs by Daysha Blount and Kayla Bonkart extended a two-run Reserve lead to four in the seventh inning, the Eagles seemed primed to notch their third win of the season. But few thought the game to be over, after the mass scoring of the first six innings.

RCS pitcher Amanda Watson retired the WSJ’s first batter in the bottom of the seventh, and the Rams were down to their final two outs. But Renea Julian drew a walk and Alisha Batiste reached on an error to begin the WSJ rally. Kyla Morris’ single drove in Julian to make it 21-18, and Batiste scored from third on a passed ball to make it 21-19.

Favorite doubled just fair down the left field line to bring Morris home, making it a one-run game.

“Her double gave us a chance,” said Dumas. “That was one of the big plays of the game.”

Young drew a walk, and both runners stole bases to set up a potential winning base hit. Rayia Boudoin was called out on interference on a pop out to the catcher, leaving Chasity Everson as her team’s last chance.

Everson popped a ball up to the infield, seemingly the game-ending play. But three Eagles converged and none came up with the catch, allowing Favorite to score and tie things up.

“We had a miscall in the infield,” said Reserve coach Michael Reeves. “Two people called for it, and we dropped it. It’s something we work on each day in practice. We actually call out our last names, because two people could say ‘I got it’ at the same time. But I think they just didn’t have time on a quick one like that. Everyone wanted to make that last out.”

Said Dumas: “We made way too many errors ourselves. You can’t win softball games making double-digit errors. But the flipside is that we fought back. We wanted it at the end.”

The Eagles led throughout most of the game after scoring six-second inning runs to take a 9-4 lead.

Reserve led 14-11 after five innings and extended the advantage to 19-11 after a five run sixth inning. Kelsey Joseph’s two-RBI single put Reserve ahead 16-11. A Bonkart single scored Joseph to make it 17-11, and Blount scored on a passed ball to make it 18-11.

Trenica Pearly collected three hits and scored five runs. Blount and Bonkart each finished with three hits and four runs scored.

Despite the tough loss, Reeves says his team should bounce back in time for Thursday’s district opener with Phoenix in Reserve.

With the news of their high school closing at years end, Eagle players are looking to make their final season count.

“Knowing that it’s the last season at Reserve Christian, and that it’s my senior year, it means a lot more,” said Watson.

Said teammate Ruth Ramirez: “We’ve got some extra pride. We want to represent our school well in its last year.”

RESERVE SWEEPS DOUBLE HEADER — The Eagles captured their first two wins of the season this past Saturday over Hosanna Christian, 10-0 and 15-11, in Reserve.

Due to the double header, the games were shortened to five innings.

The Eagles won the opener in three innings by the 10-run rule.

Watson allowed only three hits and took the win. She also went 2-for-2 at the plate, as did Pearly.

The second game didn’t come as easy for the Eagles, who trailed 11-7 entering the bottom of the fourth. After scoring four runs to tie it, Marcie Blanchard’s two RBIs in the fifth highlighted another four run Eagle inning that clinched the win.

RCS collected 23 hits over the two games. Pearly and Watson each had three hits in the second game, and Watson picked up her second win.

RAMS DROP TWO: WSJ picked up two non-district losses last week. First, St. James overcame a 7-3 deficit to top the Rams at St. James, 14-9.

Chasity Everson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base for West St. John. Rayia Boudoin was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Kyla Morris was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

St. James scored three more runs in the fourth before making its big move in the fifth inning. Trailing 7-6, the Wildcats scored eight runs to take a commanding 14-7 lead.

Last Thursday, South Lafourche’s bats got hot enough to put 18 runs on the board, as the Tarpons handed WSJ an 18-4 loss in Edgard.

Kyla Morris was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Ormoni Favorite was 2-for-4.

South Lafourche led 10-4 before truly breaking the game open in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs to push the game out of reach for WSJ.