By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

SULPHUR – John Curtis and Riverside represented the only one of seven state championship softball games to pit the No. 1 and No. 2 seed of its class against one another.

The game lived up to the hype and then some. But for the Rebels, their five longtime senior starters and their fans, the thrilling showdown resulted in heartbreak.

Curtis’ Katie Brignac delivered a two-out, walkoff single with runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh inning to deliver the Patriots their second consecutive state championship, 3-2, at Frasch Park Saturday night in Sulphur.

The Rebels (28-8) had just tied the game with two outs in the top of the seventh inning on a Curtis throwing error to give themselves new life.

Brignac ripped the single to the gap after a pinch hit single by Tara Stauder led off the inning. Brooke Lee reached on a fielder’s choice with one out, and Heather Scully sacrificed the runners over with a bunt.

That brought Brignac to the plate. Curtis coach Jerry Godfrey wanted to put the game into the hands of his best player, and she delivered all he could have ever asked for.

“As soon as she hit it, I knew,” said Godfrey. “As good as their centerfielder (Taylor Terrio) is, and she’s very good, (Brignac) had the gap.”

Said Brignac, “Two outs in that spot, I had just settle down and look for something to drive … We’d be excited to win regardless, but playing (Riverside) made it special. They’re a great team and one of the top competitors we’ve faced.”

For Riverside, it brought to an end one of the most accomplished seasons in school history, one that many had earmarked as “the year”. The Rebels reached the state quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012, falling to Evangel and Curtis respectively.

 “Especially, it’s hard for the seniors,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “They’ve worked so hard for so many years. It’s a great group of kids and they’ve made such a huge impact on our program. They dug a little bit deeper every year and got a little bit further.

“To get so close, and to do as much as we have … it hurts,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “But all you can do is use it and get better from the hurt.”

Saturday morning, the Rebels overcame Evangel in the Class 2A semifinal to advance past one Riverside nemesis.

It appeared they might be destined to do the same to the second, after scratching the game tying run across in the top of the seventh. Rayne Weber led off the frame by drawing a full count walk, then Madison Watson bunted her over to second. Taylor Terrio – who was 3 for 3 to that point – ripped a ball to third, but straight into Curtis’ Rebecca Dill’s glove for the inning’s second out.

That brought up Toni Hebert, who hit a short chopper up the middle to Brignac; she double clutched and threw the ball over the head of first baseman Rachel Brockhaus, and Weber came around to score and tie the game.

“It’s all you can ever ask from a group of kids. After the home run, I was saying to keep fighting, keep battling. It’s what they did,” said Hebert. 

Brignac and Riverside pitcher Destin Vicknair engaged in a pitcher’s duel all night. Brignac tossed a three-hitter while striking out six and walking three. Terrio collected all three Rebel hits against Brignac, who no-hit the rest of a powerful Riverside lineup.

Brignac was well rested for the final game. Curtis (30-1) notched its semifinal win earlier in the day over North Webster, 11-0, with sophomore Payton Piccolo on the mound. Piccolo and Brignac, a junior, rotated throughout the year.

Vicknair more than held her own against the stout Curtis attack, allowing five hits while striking out five and walking four.

Brignac and Curtis held off a potential early Rebel surge in the first inning after a Terrio single and walks drawn by Hebert and Katie Bailey. With the bases loaded, Brignac was able to strike out Hailey Tassin with two outs to end the threat.

But Riverside did strike first.  RA took a 1-0 lead in the third inning after Terrio led off the inning with a triple, slugged over leftfielder Payton Adams’ head. Hebert lofted a fly ball to the outfield to score Terrio and put her team ahead.

Curtis struck back on the bat of Rachel Brockhaus in the fourth inning. She drove a two-run home run to deep left field to push Curtis ahead 2-1.

Brockhaus was voted the championship game’s Outstanding player. More than perhaps anyone else, she has been a thorn in the Rebels’ side over this rivalry.

Her two-run single proved the game winner in last year’s state semifinal win over Riverside, and she hit a home run in the 10-2A District championship game between the teams this year, a 6-3 Curtis win.

RIVERSIDE 5, EVANGEL 2 – The Rebels advanced to the 2A title game after notching a 5-2 semifinal victory over the Eagles, who eliminated RA from Sulphur in 2010 and 2011.

“It feels great to break through,” said Terrio, who went 2 for 2 in the game.

Erica Delaneuville’s two-RBI double in the first inning gave the Rebels an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Rebels took a 4-0 lead in the third inning, scoring on a Destin Vicknair groundout and a Evangel (23-7) throwing error.

“We wanted to come out hard and put a lot of pressure on them,” said Terrio.

Vicknair struck out eight batters in a complete game win. She tossed a two-hitter.

RIVERSIDE 8, DEQUINCY 0 –Vicknair struck out 16 batters – her most ever in eight Sulphur starts – and threw a one-hit shutout as the Rebels defeated DeQuincy (20-8) in the quarterfinals Friday.

Vicknair collected three RBIs on the night, the first two on her two-run home run in the first inning that lifted RA to a 2-0 lead.

“I thought it hit the top of the fence. I had no idea it went over until a little bit into it,” said Vicknair. “It just felt great to hit one out, especially as a senior.”

It was all the run-support she’d need, but she’d get more – Toni Hebert collected an RBI single, another run scored on a Bailey double and Terrio drew a bases loaded walk to put RA ahead 5-0  in the third.

Erica Delaneuville’s two-run double in the sixth made it 7-0 and Bailey’s RBI single one batter later made it 8-0.

“We knew we couldn’t play around,” said Delaneuville. “We’ve been mentally preparing ourselves all year for this weekend. We had a lot of batting practice this week, so we could relax and do what we had to do.”