The Benton Tigers and Airline Vikings dropped close games Monday.
Benton fell to defending non-select Division I champion West Monroe 4-3 at Benton. Airline lost to North DeSoto 4-2 at North DeSoto.
At Benton, a late rally by the Tigers came up just short. West Monroe (18-7), which has won 10 in a row, scored two in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead. Benton scored one in the sixth and one in the seventh.
In the seventh, Case Jorden, Hayden Millen and Cole Snell had consecutive two-out singles. But Louisiana Tech signee Drew Ferguson got a strikeout and Millen was stranded at third.
In the sixth, Griffin Sibley’s single with two outs scored Kannon Greer. But the Tigers left runners on second and third.
Seven Benton players combined for eight hits, all singles. Case Jorden went 2-for-4.Â
Starter Thomas Allen went five innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs with two strikeouts and three walks. Kade Bryant gave up one hit, struck out three and walked one in two innings of relief.
West Monroe’s Zach Simpson went 3-for-4. Ferguson went the distance. He struck out seven and walked none.
District 1-5A leader Benton (24-2), which had won 13 in a row, resumes district play Tuesday at Huntington.
At North DeSoto, five Airline players combined for seven hits. Ayden Hawn went 3-for-4 with a double. Max Fisher had an RBI-double.
Airline starter Leo Heng allowed four hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked three. Hawn pitched one scoreless inning with three strikeouts.
The Vikings left eight runners on base.
Airline (15-9) resumes District 1-5A play Tuesday at Parkway. North DeSoto, No. 3 in the non-select Division II power rankings per GeauxPreps.com, improved to 15-9.