By ROBERT L. LEE

RESERVE – The East St. Charles Post 366/195 Fighting Wildcats began Wednesday’s game against the Riverside Extra Innings Club Rebels with a bang, but fizzled out before scoring again in the fifth inning. The Fighting Wildcats drove in two runs in the first inning and held a 2-0 lead until allowing one Rebel run in the second inning. The score came when Ryan Griffin delivered a hit to the East St. Charles short stop, who made the out at second, but when the throw to first was dropped, Griffin gained first base and lead-off batter Jordan Remondet scored from third base.

A drizzling rain starting in the second inning may have been the damper on both teams’ fire, as the Rebels wouldn’t cross home plate again until it was almost too late, in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Fighting Wildcats resumed their scoring suddenly, when with two outs, the second an attempt to slide into home, Beau Jones jumped to steal second. A Rebel error, one of three, allowed Rustin Rebowe to round third and score his team’s third run. Jones managed to steal third and was quickly waved to jog home on a base hit by Tron Lee.

With the number of pitches beginning to add up for both teams, East St. Charles gave Brandon Maggiore a break from the mound, replacing him with Andrew Lassere to close out the fifth inning. The Rebels switched pitchers in the top of the sixth inning, to what would be their second of three to take the mound. After two consecutive walks, D. J. Fortenberry stepped down, giving Jordan Remondet a shot at the Fighting Wildcats.

While fans may witness a runoff once in about two or three games, five players were caught in every possible situation, between first and second, second and third, and even between third base and home plate. The simultaneous runoffs in the sixth inning between second and third bases and third and home plate exhibited both teams’ talent. A Trey Simon hit to deep left field began the mix up. Tyrone Wethers rounded third base, followed closely by Daniel Vitrano running from second. East St. Charles coach Marty Luquet waved Wethers back to third after a few steps toward home, forcing Vitrano to turn around midway between the bases. The Rebels first tried to contain Vitrano, then tried to trap Wethers who threatened to use the distraction to cross home. However, while switching between the two runoffs, the Rebels made a throwing error, which gave Wethers the green light to score and let Vitrano rest on third.

The score brought the Fighting Wildcats up to 5-1 and kicked off their five-run sixth inning. Keith Johnson made a hit past third base, bringing Vitrano in to score, followed shortly by a Jones hit to deep center to bring in Simon. The Rebels brought in their third pitcher, Chris Reeves, but an immediate loose pitch allowed Maggiore to cross home from third base. Sean Bergeron sliced a hit down the third base line to let Jones score the ninth run.

Two walks and two hits handed the Rebels their second run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Fighting Wildcats answered with one run on a Simon line drive to right field.

Although two outs were posted on the scoreboard, the Rebels gained strength and threatened to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Rebels’ Reeves drove in Malbrough with only one out, then after the second out, loaded the bases. East St. Charles gave up a walk, which kept the bases loaded and set the score at 10-4. However, a pop out brought the game to a halt after almost three-and-a-half hours of play.