By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
RESERVE – As Riverside Academy  gears up to host this weekend’s annual Fatty’s Invitational baseball tournament, coach Matt White said his young Rebels are “looking to establish their identity” after a 3-6 start.
The Rebels are just 10 months removed from their memorable run to the Class 2A championship game, made under White in just his second season as the team’s head coach.
But the Rebels find themselves in a retooling phase now after losing then-ace Tate Scioneaux — a Louisiana-Monroe signee — and a number of key senior starters. Riverside starts just two seniors this season: returning starters Andre Faucheux and Dustin Madere, at shortstop and second base respectively.
“We’ve got a youth movement in progress right now,” said White. “We’ve got three guys who either 8th, 9th or 10th graders starting in the outfield, young guys at catcher, first and third.
“We’ve had spells where we look really good and others where we look really bad. We’ve been a bit up and down.”
This weekend offers a chance for the Rebels to build some momentum after a tough Monroe tournament slate last weekend that saw Riverside fall in four straight against some of the state’s top competition.
Riverside will face Pope John Paul II at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and West Feliciana at 12:30 p.m. Sunday as part of the four day, seven game slate. Lutcher and Country Day will also participate in the tournament.
“Lutcher’s bringing two Division I pitchers. Country Day is a state semifinalist,” said White.  “West Feliciana is a perennial playoff team in 3A and Pope John Paul is off to a strong start. It should make for some exciting baseball.”
So far this season, Faucheux has thrived in his role as one of RA’s senior leaders. He ‘s hitting .430 so far.
“He’s tearing the cover off the ball,” said White. “He’s our three-hole hitter and he’s seeing the ball really well right now.”
At the top of the pitching rotation stands Tanner Lawson, who returns after a strong freshman season and boasts an ERA just over 1.00.
“When he’s on the mound, he makes our team comfortable on the field,” said White. “He strikes out more guys than he walks. He works fast … some guys work so slowly that your defense tends to fall asleep in the field.  But he gets the game moving and everyone stays on their toes.”