Airline sweeps 1-5A top honors
Champion Airline took all three of the individual awards on the All-District 1-5A baseball team selected by the district’s coaches.
Senior third baseman Jonathan Brandon was named overall MVP. Senior pitcher Cameron Parikh was named Most Valuable Pitcher.
Toby Todd, who guided the Vikings to their fourth straight district title, took Coach of the Year honors.
Brandon, son of former Airline great Dustin Brandon, batted .375 with 12 doubles, seven triples, four home runs and 22 RBI in the regular season. He also had five stolen bases.
Parikh, a Louisiana Tech signee, went 8-2 with a .80 ERA. He had 54 strikeouts in 61 innings. In district play, Parikh was 5-0 with a 0.27 ERA.
Todd led Airline to a 10-2 district mark. The Vikings were 23-14 overall and lost to No. 5 Zachary two games to one in the second round of the playoffs.
Airline put two other players on the first team — senior pitcher Chase Hodges and senior first baseman Josh James.
Hodges, a Panola College signee, went 2-1 in district play with a 1.54 ERA.
James hit .455 in district play and drove in 12 runs. He had an on-base percentage of .548. James batted .316 with 25 RBI for the full season.
Five Haughton players made the first team — senior pitcher Austin Clemmens, junior pitcher Nick Heckman, senior second baseman Sam Herren, senior outfielder Jonathan Plant and junior utility Jathon Patton.
Clemmens went 4-0 in district play with a 0.75 ERA. He had 22 strikeouts in 28 innings.
Heckman went 3-0 in district play with a 3.18 ERA. He pitched a three-hitter in Haughton’s 2-0 victory over No. 2 seed and three-time defending state champion Barbe in the first round of the playoffs.
Herren had a .314 batting average and .455 on-base percentage in district play.
Plant batted .368 and had an on-base percentage of .455.
Herren and Plant were both strong players in the field. Their defensive skills contributed to the Bucs’ success.
Patton, a first baseman, hit .500 in district play with an on-base percentage of .595. He had five doubles and nine RBI in district.
Parkway, which made the playoffs for the first time since moving up to Class 5A in 2012, put three players on the first team — sophomore catcher Caleb Reese, sophomore shortstop Amani Larry and junior outfielder Eric Williams.
Reese hit .367 for the full season with nine doubles and 28 RBI.
Larry batted .440 in district play with a .660 on-base percentage and 11 stolen bases. Larry’s defensive skills and speed on the basepaths were big keys to Parkway’s success.
For the full season, Larry had 33 stolen bases in 39 attempts. He also batted .355 with an on-base percentage of .523.
Williams led the district with seven home runs in the regular season. He also batted .327 with six doubles, one triple and 28 RBI. Williams was also a successful pitcher.
Haughton’s second-team selections were junior pitchers Cameron Townsend and Jayson Nitz.
Parkway’s second-team selections were junior pitcher George Booras, senior second baseman Bryan Day, junior outfielder Derious Bradford and freshman utility Peyton Lewis.
For a complete list of the All-District 1-5A team go to bossierpress.com
Russell Hedges
rhedges@bossierpress.com
