Benton, Airline and Haughton continued their early season success with victories Sunday and Monday.
Defending Class 4A state champion Benton improved to 4-0 with victories over Parkway, 10-4, and Evangel Christian, 6-0, on Sunday.
Airline raised its record to 3-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Neville 4-1 and 5-2 on Sunday.
Haughton improved to 2-0 with a 5-2 victory over Ouachita Parish on Monday.
In a District 1-4A game, Bossier fell to Minden 8-0.
Cade Scott had two doubles and two RBI in Benton’s win over Parkway. Daniel Halbert went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Jake Maranto smacked a two-RBI double. Brennan Blaylock and Cole Horton also doubled.
Brock Van Hoy got the win. He allowed four hits and struck out four in five innings.
Parkway’s Eric Brown went 2-for-4 with a triple. Peyton Lewis also had two hits. Caleb Reese smacked a two-run homer.
Starter Parker Stevens allowed three hits and three earned runs in four innings.
Parkway (2-1) opens play in the Monroe-area Trey Altick Classic against Archbishop Rummel at 4:30 Thursday at West Monroe.
Benton blew open a tight game against Evangel with four runs in the fifth inning.
Clint Lasiter and JT Brice both had two hits, including a double. Horton also had a double.
Winning pitcher Grayson Gates allowed just three hits in five innings and struck out nine.
Benton and Evangel are scheduled to face off again at 6 p.m. Thursday at Evangel.
Bryson Connell struck out 12 and allowed just two hits in five innings in Airline’s 4-1 win over Neville.
“Anytime Bryson is on the mound our guys believe they have a chance to win against anybody. He does a good job of trusting his stuff and challenging hitters,” Airiine head coach Toby Todd said.
“I was just trying to pound the zone and throw strikes and do everything I could to set our team up to win,” Connell said.
Caden Jones didn’t allow a run in the final two innings for the save.
The Vikings had four hits. Hayden Lope had a double and two RBI.
Chris Lutterman sparked a three run bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single and later scored on Lope’s second RBI of the contest. Connell lined a ground ball by Tally with two outs scoring Lope and Jones giving the Vikings a 4-1 lead.
Will Tynes and Hunter Whiteside combined on a one-hitter in the 5-2 victory. Tynes got the win, allowing the one hit while striking out seven and walking only two. Whiteside struck out two and walked one in the final two innings.
Airline only got two hits, including a two-out bases-loaded single by Lutterman in the bottom of the fourth to give the Vikings a 3-1 lead.
Lope doubled with two outs to extend Airline’s fourlth. Back-to-back walks to Jones and Lucas McKain loaded the bases for Lutterman who lined a two-RBI single to right-center field.
“I felt calm and relaxed after already seeing the same pitcher for the third time in the game. I got a pitch to hit later in the at bat and was happy to contribute in helping our team win today. I think we did just enough when we had to, we have a lot to improve on, but it has been a good start” Lutterman said.
Jones scored two runs and had an RBI.
Airline was scheduled to play a three-game set against Neville on Friday and Saturday. But rain forced the Sunday doubleheader.
“I think we all appreciated the opportunity just to get out on the field on the first sunny day we have had in a long time,” Todd said. “It takes a lot of work, from our administration, our coaches, parents, and players to prepare a field and get these games in through some less than ideal weather for baseball. I think our players found reasons to compete together rather than make excuses and see a game get away from us when we were not playing our best. We look forward to preparing for a tough week on a dry field (Monday).”
Airline visits Ruston on Tuesday at 5.
Haughton rallied from a 2-0 deficit against Ouachita Parish. The Bucs cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth and tacked on four more in the sixth.
Landon Thompson went 2-for-3 with a home run, double and two RBI. Dustin Barron also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Peyton Stovall went 2-for-3 with a double.
Logan Wilkerson got the win in relief. He didn’t allow a run over the final 1 2/3 innings. Starter Chase Keith allowed five hits and struck out three in 5 1/3 innings.
Haughton visits Sterlington at 5 Tuesday.
Ellis Alexander had Bossier’s hit against Minden. The Bearkats are playing in the North Caddo tournament, which starts Thursday.
NOTE: The above report is based on information received from coaches or on teams’ official GameChanger accounts. Assistant coach Al Cantwell supplied quotes and game details for Airline’s segment.
