As teams prepare for the upcoming playoffs in about two weeks, a couple of Select teams from two ends of the classification spectrum faced off in Covington.
On Tuesday night (March 31) at Heap Field, Goliath got the best of David, but it was anything but easy.
St. Paul’s used key hits from the middle of their lineup, and Jude Reason’s one-out, two-run single gave the home-standing Wolves the lead for good in a 4-3 victory over feisty Riverside.
“I went down 0-2, and you just have to stay composed. You know eventually you’re gonna get your shot,” said Reason, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs from the cleanup slot. “They have some guys who can pitch. They throw hard, and we had to adjust to it. That’s what we did.”
Gage Thompson started for Riverside, and although he allowed all four earned runs, the linescore doesn’t do him justice. He worked around triples in each of the first two innings – one by Brennan Villa in the first and Easton Springmann in the second, but he allowed back-to-back hits in the fourth that got him in trouble.
After Reason singled and was knocked in by a Springmann double, the Wolves (16-6) tied it at 2 when Springmann scored on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Coach Jade Falgoust pulled Thompson after he allowed consecutive hits to start the frame. Following an error that loaded the bases, Reason came up with the big hit.
Jayce Ruiz was dominating for Riverside (18-7) after that, and he even pitched an immaculate inning in the sixth with nine consecutive strikes, but the damage had been done.
“That’s a great ballclub over there, and I don’t care what division they’re in,” St. Paul’s coach Mike Scanlon said of the Rebels, who are sixth in the Division IV power ratings. “They can compete with anyone in the state; they’re gritty and scrappy. I am just proud of the way we competed.
“We faced adversity early, and we just kept chipping away and won the back half of the ballgame.”
Reed Montgomery didn’t allow a couple of early runs to bother him in a spot start. He pitched four solid innings – 47 strikes and 19 balls – and left with the score tied at 2. Reese Deville, Logan Rosiere and Cooper Bertrand then finished it out.
The Rebels never shy away from playing stiff out-of-district competition, as they were coming off a 2-1 heartbreaking loss Saturday to Vandebilt Catholic, who is top ranked in Division II. They will face the likes of Division I East Ascension, Division II Brusly this week and two teams in Division III – French Settlement and St. Thomas Aquinas – to finish the regular season.
“If you look at our record, we try to just play our style of baseball against tough teams and not really worry about who’s on the other side,” Falgoust said. “When you win some games as a 1A school, it’s hard to make a schedule playing 2A and schools above that.”
St. Paul’s, ranked 11th in Division I, heads back into district play Wednesday at Mandeville and back at home against the Skippers next Monday night. They have now won six in a row and will finish the regular season with two games against Covington and one each against Lakeshore and Shaw.
LINESCORE
Riverside – 110 000 0 – 3 | 5 | 2
St. Paul’s – 000 220 X – 4 | 8 | 1
TOP HITTERS
Riverside (18-7): Ayden Bullock, 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2BB; Brock Bourgeois, 1-3, 2B, 3R, BB, 2SB; Beaux Brock, 0-1, RBI, 2 BB, SB.
St. Paul’s (16-6): Jude Reason, 2-3, 2RBIs, R; Easton Springmann, 2-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, R; Blake Kelsey, 2-3, R.
DECIDING PITCHERS
WP: Reese Deville, 1+IP, 1R, 1ER, 0H, 3BB, 1K. (Starter: Reed Montgomery, 4+IP, 2R, 1ER, 5H, 2BB, 5K.)
LP: Gage Thompson, 4IP, 4R, 4ER, 7H, 0BB, 3K.
Save: Cooper Bertrand, 1IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 2K.
WP: Thompson 2. IBB: Montgomery. Pitches-strikes: Thompson, 71-45; Ruiz, 23-21; Montgomery, 66-45; Deville, 24-9; Logan Rosiere, 13-6; Bertrand, 18-12. Weather: 79, partly cloudy. Time of game: 2:02.