By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LUTCHER – Riverside extended its winning streak to nine games and improved to 13-1 overall at the Lutcher tournament over the weekend, upending three foes.

Fresh off of a key district win over rival St. Charles Thursday, Riverside downed East St. John, 3-1, Central Catholic, 7-0, and Berwick, 5-1.

Riverside coach Kristy Hebert said she was “obviously glad to get the wins” but felt the Rebels were a bit inconsistent in their play.

“I just wasn’t happy with our overall performance, how we swung the bats,” she said. “You have to adjust to all different kinds of pitching, and I felt like we didn’t adjust very well.

“After the St. Charles game, a big win, you want to keep going up. I felt like we were on a bit of an up and down roller coaster this weekend. And it’s not to say we didn’t do a good job going out and doing what we had to win. I just felt like we can play better.”

Chelsey Stein got the win for Riverside against ESJ, going four innings and allowing one hit. She struck out two.

Katie Bailey had a double and an RBI. Toni Hebert went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Riverside led 2-0 after an inning and 3-0 after five. ESJ scored its lone run in the seventh.

In similar fashion to the ESJ game, Riverside took a 2-0 lead against Central Catholic in the opening frame. RA scored a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings then plated three in the sixth to essentially slam the door.

Although, Destin Vicknair and the Rebel pitching didn’t need much support – she led the way, going five innings of scoreless ball and allowing just three hits. She struck out nine.

With her bat, Vicknair went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. She hit two doubles. Shea LaFountain went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Against Berwick, Riverside continued their trend of hot starts and scored three runs in the first. RA added two in the fifth to round out their scoring.

LaFountain led Riverside at the plate, going 3-for-4. Vicknair had a triple and two RBIs. Bailey also added an RBI.

Vicknair went the complete game, striking out six and allowing four hits.

The 13-1 start is the best of Hebert’s run so far at Riverside and she said that now, it’s a matter of maintaining the same focus.

“I’m really pleased with our record. We’ve been doing enough to win game in and game out,” she said. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves though. Just take it a game at a time and focus on what we need to do … we have to do that if we’re going to be where I want to be at the end of this season.”