By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

DESTREHAN – Destrehan and Riverside met Saturday for a pair of softball games between the two River Parish teams, with the LadyCats taking the first 8-0 and the Lady Rebels winning the second 6-5.

With Nicole Poirrier pitching for Riverside, and Julie Beaugh for Destrehan, the duel from the mound was a strong one, as there were a combined 13 hits in seven full innings.

Shannon Clark, of DHS, opened scoring with a home run over the left field wall in the second inning. Tasha Harvey tripled in the next at-bat and made it home to give the LadyCats a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Rebs answered back in the bottom half of the inning as Bridgett Petit opened with a double to left field. Heather LeBlanc knocked her in with a single up the middle.

Destrehan managed a run in the third when Jodie Arceneaux singled and scored on an error, but the Lady Rebels took the lead in the bottom half with three straight hits by Heidi Garcich, Poirrier and Marci Millet, whose single up the middle scored Garcich. Amanda Vicknair then doubled, scoring Poirrier and Millet and pulling into a 4-3 lead. Brittany Schoen made it 5-3 with a single that got Vicknair home before the end of the inning.

Beaugh closed that gap to one though with a home run with two away in the fourth and Arceneaux tied it up in the fifth with a single that she turned into a score after an error. The winning run came one inning later.

&#8220She’s pitching like she did in her sophomore year,” head coach Mickey Roussel said of Poirrier, his senior ace.

The second game of the day went more in Riverside’s favor as Cara St. Amant took the mound.

The Lady Rebels held the LadyCats to no runs in the second game with St. Amant on the mound while posting eight of their own. It started fast with Riverside going up early on and never relinquishing the lead.

Recording hits for this one was Garcich, who went 3-for-4 from the plate. Nicole Simon also had two hits while Bridgette Petit and Poirrier got one apiece.

The Lady Rebels move to 8-9 on the year with the double-header results. They stand 0-2 in district after facing St. Charles and John Curtis already and they are set for the rematch with St. Charles scheduled for this Tuesday.

&#8220If we can play our game, keep the errors down, we can get it done,” said Roussel of the upcoming district stretch. &#8220We played Curtis and St. Charles close in both of those, so we know we can compete. We just have to get our best effort out there.”