Slidell senior hurler Shane Riedie was in control from the start tossing a two-hit, complete game shutout as the Tigers whitewashed the Mandeville Skippers, 10-0, Tuesday in district play at MHS.

Riedie (6-3), an LSU signee, kept the Mandeville hitters off balance, mixing an effective curveball with his lively fastball. He struck out eight and only walked two. He economized his pitches staying ahead of most hitters finishing with a 96-pitch count.

Riedie said he had his best stuff of the season.

Slidell second baseman Blake Forbis is congratulated by Tigers'€™ third base coach Scott Schwaner after hitting a solo homer in the sixth inning of Tuesday'€™s district game at MHS. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

“My fastball and curveball were both working. I had a lot of confidence in my curveball,” Riedie said.

“My team played great defense behind me. I couldn’t have asked for more. We just won the game outright,” Riedie added.

“Coming off of losses to Northshore and Covington this was a big win for us,” said the senior right-hander.

Slidell senior catcher Lance Swearns said his battery mate had it all.

“Shane had a great performance. Like he said, it was the best stuff he has had in a good while. His curveball was amazing. He was hitting his spots with just about every pitch. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from him. He makes the game fun when he is on,” Swearns said.

“This is a huge win for us. We had to get this one to get off of the two losses. A big 10-0 victory helps us do that. It’s a tough district so you never know what will happen,” Swearns added.

Slidell coach Sam Abney said Riedie was on his game.

“Shane kept his pitch count down. He only walked two with just two hits. He had an excellent day, and just let the defense play behind him. He kept the Mandeville hitters off balance. They weren’t sure what was coming. When you guess on pitches against that big guy, he can get you out most of the time,” Abney said.

Mandeville’s Ross Hardy picked up a leadoff single to left in the second inning, and Joey Pajares had a single to right for the Skippers only two hits off of Riedie.

Slidell (11-7-1) upped its district record to 6-3. The Tigers in second place with Covington trail the Northshore Panthers by one game in the District 7-5A race, which is heating up. Slidell travels to St. Paul’s this afternoon to battle the Wolves. Mandeville (11-10) slipped to 4-5 in district as the Skippers take to the road today against Ponchatoula.

Hardy (2-1), the Mandeville starter, went four innings. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits. He had four strikeouts and two walks. Hardy left trailing 1-0 as he was replaced by Skippers’ first baseman Jamie Bruno, who struggled to find the strike zone. Bruno in one-inning plus gave up five runs (two earned) on one hit. He walked seven Tigers to add to MHS’ woes, which uncharacteristically committed five errors.

Slidell took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Riedie drew a walk off Hardy to open the inning and was replaced by courtesy runner James Bates. He eventually scored on a throwing error by Hardy, who had fielded a bunt trying to get him at third base.

Slidell tacked on two runs in the fifth without the benefit of a hit off Bruno. He walked the first four batters he faced. Swearns was credited with an RBI after drawing a bases loaded walk.

Slidell built the lead to 7-0 with four runs in the sixth. Tigers’ second baseman Blake Forbis ripped a solo homer to right field, and Riedie contributed an RBI sacrifice fly. Jordan Olsen also delivered an RBI double.

Slidell continued to add runs tallying three runs in their last at bat to close out the scoring. Randal Meyer drew a walk off reliever J.P. Catalanatto and stole second.

Following two strikeouts, Shad de St. Germain reached on an error. De St. Germain walked twice and scored three runs for the Tigers. Right fielder James Davis walked twice and was hit by a pitch scoring three times. Third baseman Chad Livingston, 2-for-4, cracked a two-run single in the seventh inning. Riedie finished off the scoring with an RBI single.

Slidell sophomore Dylan Aymond, who had replaced starting shortstop Nathan Reis, who left with a sprained ankle in the second inning, walked twice in the game.

He scored a run for the Tigers.

He also made a couple nice defensive plays on ground balls hit deep in the hole.

Mandeville coach Matt Brown credited Riedie with an outstanding performance.

“Shane pitched a great game. We didn’t hit the ball well, and we just made too many mistakes on top of that. Our defense let us down a bit,” Brown said.

“When you face a pitcher like Shane, you have to play solid defense yourself. You can’t give them easy runs because it will be hard to get them back against him,” Brown added.