The Benton Tigers and Airline Vikings completed District 1-5A sweeps Thursday.
Benton defeated Haughton 12-5 at Benton, and Airline dropped Southwood 16-3 at Southwood.
In the other 1-5A games, Byrd edged Parkway 3-2 in nine innings at Parkway, and Captain Shreve got by Natchitoches Central 6-5 at Shreve.
Here are the 1-5A standings through Round 1 of district play: Benton (15-3, 2-0), Byrd (14-2, 2-0), Captain Shreve (7-9, 2-0), Airline (6-12, 2-0), Haughton (14-4, 0-2), Parkway (11-5, 0-2), Natchitoches Central (9-12, 0-2), Southwood (5-12, 0-2).
At Benton, the Bucs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. But the Tigers promptly answered with six in the bottom half of the inning.
Haughton cut the lead to 6-4 with single runs in the second and third. Benton again came up with a big inning, scoring five in the fourth.
Brock Van Hoy and Grayson Gates led the Tigers at the plate. Van Hoy went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Gates also went 3-for-4 with a double.
Clint Lasiter hit a home run, doubled and drove in two runs. Jack Walters and Brady Blaylock both had two-run triples in the first.
Hayden Hable got the win. He allowed nine hits and struck out nine in six innings.
Haughton’s Peyton Stovall went 2-for-3. Carter Griffin went 2-for-4. Hunter Chavis and Chase Keith both doubled.
Benton begins a two-game series against Southwood at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The game was moved up a day because there’s a good chance of rain Saturday.
Haughton is scheduled to open a two-game set against Natchitoches Central at 1 Saturday on the road.
At Southwood, Airline had 14 hits in the five-inning game.
Harrison Waxley led the Vikings, going 3-for-4. Caleb Hemmings went 2-for-2 with a double. Matthew Scripture and Keegan Lehr both went 2-for-3.
Carson Carey had a double and three RBI. Mason Morgan also had three RBI.
Ethan Evans allowed three hits and struck out eight in four innings.
Airline is scheduled to begin a two-game series against Byrd at 1 Saturday at home.
At Parkway, the Panthers took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning. But the Yellow Jackets scored a run in the top of the inning to send the game into extra innings.
Byrd scored the go-ahead run in the ninth on a one-out double by Jack Walker. Mason Langdon scored after getting hit by a pitch and stealing second.
Parkway pitchers Brandon Levy and Sean Waits limited the Jackets to just three hits. Levy struck out seven and Waits three.
Parkway had six hits. Brady Norcross went 2-for-4.
Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the third, Norcross’ two-out single scored Cameron Fink with the tying run.
The Panthers took the lead in the fifth. Norcross singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Hayden Knotts’ single to center.
Parkway left one runner on base in both the eighth and ninth innings.
The Panthers are scheduled to start a two-game series against Captain Shreve at 1 Saturday at Shreve.
In a District 1-1A game played Wednesday, Plain Dealing notched its second win of the season, defeating Lincoln Prep 6-0 at home.
— Featured photo by Robert Summerlin
NOTE: The above report is based on information on teams’ GameChanger accounts and provided by coaches.
