Red Stick Roller Derby rallies late against Auburn rivals

[Comment Below]

By Brian Fontenot

Baton Rouge's Red Stick Roller (RSRD) Derby battled it out with Auburn, Alabama's own Burn City Rollers (BCR), at the Baton Rouge River Center last Saturday. The RSRD clenched a hard earned victory late in the back-and-forth bout, 115 to 100, exciting the several hundred spectators in attendance.

Abite Hoedown (Melanie Maurin), a jammer, gave the RSRD an early lead at the start, going up 4-0. Heidi Volatile (Caroline Fricara), also a jammer for the RSRD, followed up and widened the lead even more.

"Quick foot work within the pack - you always got to keep your feet moving," said Abita Hoedown about her winning strategy.

But the BCR fought back, taking the lead for the first time ten minutes into the bout. The BCR saw their lead grow from 33 to 41 with only ten minutes left in the first half before the RSRD was able to recover.

Good blocking kept the RSRD alive, however. Zarathrustya (Mary Koehler) and Brat O'Tat (Michelle Devito) obliged the crowd with highlight reel worthy hits that sent opposing skaters sliding into the suicide seating at the edge of the track.

For one tense moment, Zarathrustya managed to hold back three BCR skaters by herself to buy time for her teammates to get out of the penalty box.

"I was scared," said Zarathrustya. "When you're out there alone you feel it in your stomach."

Penalties late in the first half put BCR's jammer out of play, allowing the RSRD to overtake them. The one-two-punch of Hoedown and Volatile rallied the RSRD back, ending the half ahead with a slight lead, 54-52.

Penalties continued to be a problem for the BCR through the second half, taking many of their players off the track at key times, but they were still able to wrest the lead from the RSRD with just ten minutes to go in the bout.

Then Heidi Volatile avoided a nasty multi-skater pile-up that wiped half of the track to run up a commanding lead, 95 to 86.

"Dude, it's the best feeling in the world. It's like being a superhero," Volatile said about the last minute scoring run.

Abita Hoedown followed up Volatile, closing out the bout for the RSRD, 115 to 100.

"We knew they were a good team, but we had better endurance," Hoedown said, attributing the BCR's rash of late game penalties to fatigue.

"We practiced a lot of teamwork and speed drills," said Cho Cold (Carrie Holzmeister) of the BCR. "We fought every jam. I know we felt like we did the best we could do."

The RSRD's next home bout is scheduled for August 22 at the Baton Rouge River Center. For information on future bouts, visit www.redstickrollerderby.com.

The RSRD will also be one of several roller derby teams to participate in San Fermin in Nueva Orleans, a mock running of the bulls event in New Orleans which is scheduled for July 11. For more information, visit www.nolabulls.com.

Originally Published: Issue 806 - July 1, 2009

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