Russell Hedges
rhedges@bossierpress.com
It’s been an up-and-down season for most Bossier Parish high school baseball teams.
Benton, ranked No. 3 in the Class 4A state coaches’ poll, has enjoyed the most success. But the Tigers had lost three in a row going into Tuesday night’s District 1-4A opener against Huntington.
The Airline Vikings, Haughton Bucs and Parkway Panthers all begin District 1-5A play Thursday. As usual, 1-5A teams will play a round robin of three-game series.
Parkway opens against defending district champion Captain Shreve, Airline faces Byrd and Haughton meets Southwood.
The good news for parish teams is that Shreve (5-13), Byrd (9-9) and Southwood (3-11) have also been inconsistent.
Here is a look at parish teams entering district play. Records are as of Monday night.
Airline (6-10) — The Vikings won just two of their first six games before going on a three-game wining streak.
Then they followed that with a three-game slide.
Airline has struggled at the plate.
Cameron Taylor and Will Goodwin have been fairly consistent hitters.
Andrew Lowe has been the most reliable Viking on the mound.
Haughton (9-10) — The Bucs put together a four-game winning streak but have lost seven of their last nine, including Tuesday’s 7-3 loss at Ruston.
Sam Wallace was the leading hitter among players with 10 or more games played with a .385 average going into this week. He has 15 RBIs. Seth Ryan leads the team with 16.
Bradley Bockhaus, Hunter Golden, David Rost, Andrew Sewell and John Tomb have all hit over .300 among the players with appearances in at least nine games.
Keith Ramsey leads pitchers with at least five appearances with a 2.10 ERA in 16 2-3 innings. Bradley Bockhaus is next with a 2.15 ERA in 26 innings.
Parkway (7-10) — The Panthers had lost five of six heading into Tuesday night’s game against North DeSoto.
Parkway has gotten some solid pitching performances out of Rob Harper, Caleb Stock and Carson Vaughn.
Tyler Schilling, Austin Averitt, Demetrius McAtee, Dylan Whaley, Kyle Laverdiere and Peyton Donaldson have contributed at the plate.
Benton (13-6) — Benton got off to a 10-1 start, but the Tigers had lost five of their last seven before routing Huntington in their District 1-4A opener Tuesday. Three of those were by one run.
As expected, the Tigers have gotten outstanding pitching. Jordan Shaffer has been a standout on the mound and at the plate.
Aaron Henigan, Aaron Baker and Jackson Rutledge have pitched well.
The Tigers have also gotten solid hitting up and down the lineup with Shaffer and Cameron Horton among the leaders.
Bossier (2-14) — The Bearkats don’t open District 1-3A play until April 4 against Mansfield.
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