By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

RESERVE – The district softball race in 10-2A got a lot more exciting with Riverside’s 10-0 win over St. Charles this week.

&#8220It was a team effort,” Riverside coach Mickey Roussel told his team after the win. &#8220Everybody played their part. And that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Ayla Vicknair led the charge for the Lady Rebels, going 3-for-3 with a home run and an RBI double in the top of the first. Heidi Garcich reached base in both her at-bats, recording a walk in the second and a triple in the third that pushed in two runs.

It was a big third inning that put Riverside in charge for this one as Jessica Price led off with a homer for the second score of the game. It was her second consecutive game with a homer.

&#8220She hit it right in that same spot against Vandebilt,” Roussel said of Price’s second inning home run, a knock that started off scoring in a five run inning that gave Riverside a 6-0 lead.

The Lady Comets were held to just five hits with Nicole Poirrier on the mound for Riverside, as she went all five innings for the win and goes to 16-11 on the season as a starter.

Courtney Western led the Lady Comets in the effort with a pair of hits in addition to pitching the final two and a third innings of play.

The win for Riverside put the Lady Rebels at 4-3 in district play as they split their scheduled district series with St. Charles. The Lady Comets took the first meeting 4-3 with a sixth inning rally to win. That puts both SCC and Riverside two games back from John Curtis in the 10-2A title race as they have both been swept by the Lady Patriots through district play.

Tuesday’s game started fast for the Lady Rebels as Heidi Garcich found her way home for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Vicknair’s RBI double.

The second inning opened the scoring gap as Price blasted her home run ball to deep centerfield as the first batter. Brittany Schoen and Nicole Simon followed up with a single and a walk to set up two base runners with Vicknair coming back up. She homered to score three and Brittany St. Pierre blasted another one on the very next at-bat.

At that point, SCC coach Ty Monica brought Western on in relief of Ashley Trosclair. Western struck out the next batter to get out of the inning.

Riverside would go on to score in both the third and fourth innings on Garcich’s triple and a bunt by Bridget Petit. Price pushed in the winning run on a ground out that allowed Brittany St. Pierre to score.

St. Charles made a push in the top of the fifth to keep the game alive as Western reached base on a hit past shortstop to leadoff the inning and Katie Tregre bunted safe. But Poirrier managed to get the next two batters to pop out to Marci Millet at shortstop, and got the final out on a ground ball, ending the game in four and a half innings.

Next up in the 10-2A district schedule for Riverside is a road swing to Donaldsonville and St. James. The Lady Comets are set to travel to play Curtis this Tuesday where they can get the edge on the Lady Rebels for the district runner-up seed. Riverside fell to Curtis 4-3 and 7-3 in their two district matches this season.