By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles’ dominating start continued through three games at last weekend’s Riverside tournament — and pitcher B.J. Waguespack continued some individual dominance to highlight things. 

Waguespack pitched his third consecutive 1-hitter as he earned a victory for SCC in a 6-0 win over Terrebonne (8-4), striking out seven batters and moving to 3-0.

St. Charles scored three first inning runs and it was all the breathing room the senior would need. SCC (10-1) added a run in each of the second, fifth and sixth innings. 

Waguespack has yet to allow an earned run this season. He’s struck out 18 batters and allowed just three hits in 19 innings. 

“He actually didn’t have his best stuff early, and I take the blame for that,” said St. Charles coach Wayne Stein. “There was a game before ours and I ended up having to rush him a little to and ready.’

“But once he got settled in, he delivered. It’s what he’s done all year long.”

At the plate, Connor Western led the way by going 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Austin Weber also went 2 for 4 for SCC. 

The Comets opened the tournament with a 10-2 victory over Lutcher (5-6), which was St. Charles’ second win over the Bulldogs of the season. 

Mason Bordelon allowed just three hits to earn the win on the mound for SCC. After allowing a two-run home run in the first inning, he kept Lutcher scoreless the rest of the way. 

SCC scored four first inning runs to take the lead for good. 

Connor Smith led the Comets offensively, going 1 for 2 with three RBIs. 

Smith took the mound for SCC’s final game of the weekend, a 9-4 win over Springfield (2-6). He went 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits and striking out four en route to the win. Brandon Klibert closed the final 1.1 innings out, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out three.

“Connor was coming off a rough outing his last time up in Monroe, so we were glad to see him bounce back,” said Stein. 

“He turned in a nice outing and gave us a chance to win.”

Weber, Eian Mitchell, Kameron Keller and Justin Ory each collected two hits.

Stein had few complaints about the tournament sweep, only noting that the Comets struggled at times with runners in scoring position in its wins over Terrebonne and Springfield on Saturday.

However, while SCC left runners in scoring position on a few occasions, that represented a rarity this season. 

“We’ve scored 90 runs this season and driven in over 70 of those. 60 of those have come with two outs,” said Stein. “For whatever reason, we’ve been really clutch with two outs.”

Defense has also fueled the Comets’ 10-1 start.

“We’re playing as solid defensively as we ever have,” said Stein. “That’s because of the maturity of these guys. We’ve had guys starting for a couple of years now that have that experience and it’s a big plus.”

St. Charles returns to the diamond this weekend at the Lutcher tournament, starting Thursday with a rivalry matchup against Riverside (3 p.m.)

On Saturday, SCC is set to face Erath at 2 p.m. and Lutcher at 4:30 p.m. 

Stein said that he’s looking for a strong performance in the tourney — with district archrival John Curtis looming for a pair of games next week with St. Charles, the coach wants to see the momentum continue.

“We have to play well. We’ve got a huge week coming up,” said Stein.