By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles won a pair of district games with ease in a doubleheader against Donaldsonville, but fell in a close contest against Brother Martin last week.

The Comets took victories of 16-1 and 17-0 against the Tigers last Tuesday before falling 10-9 to Brother Martin in Saturday afternoon action.

The Crusaders scored six runs in what turned out to be a decisive sixth inning; it gave Brother Martin a 10-7 lead. The Crusaders trailed SCC 7-4 after four innings.

Chad McNeil and Kerry Waguespack each hit solo home runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings respectively, but Brother Martin was able to hold on for the one-run victory.

St. Charles (12-6-1) committed five errors in the loss.

“With two outs in that sixth they put up, we misplay a fly ball and drop it,” said St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack.

“It’s disheartening, but we still had a chance. Chad hits a solo home run, then Kerry … but it was just too little, too late.”

Comets’ starter Connor Smith allowed just four hits and two earned runs. He walked five.

“We felt like we got good pitching from Connor. The walks are something we’ll need to fix,” said Waguespack. “But the errors are ultimately what killed us. You can’t make five errors and expect to win.”

McNeil led the Comets at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs. He also scored three runs. Jeffrey Hall was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mackey Cortez also hit a solo home run.

In the first win over Donaldsonville, Hall was 2-for-3 with four RBIs to pace the Comets in a 16-1 win. Cortez went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and Luke Poche went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

B.J. Waguespack earned the win, allowing four hits and an earned run.

In the second win, Austin Weber went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Cortez went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Poche was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Cortez started and notched the win for SCC.

“Those games are ones that we go in and say, like always, we have to worry about St. Charles. It’s not what they do, it’s what we do. We don’t underprepare. We go in, throw strikes and look to hit a lot of balls hard on the ground. We do those things, we take care of ourselves, and the game will take care of itself.”

The Comets are now 2-0 in district play.

ꆱ