The Benton Tigers, Airline Vikings and Parkway Panthers completed District 1-5A sweeps Thursday.
Benton defeated Byrd 5-2 at Benton. The Tigers won the first game by the same score Tuesday.
Airline downed Natchitoches Central 9-3 at Airline. The Vikings took the first game 8-1.
Parkway defeated Southwood 8-4 at Parkway. The Panthers won the first game 12-0,
In the other 1-5A game, Haughton fell to Captain Shreve 6-1 at Shreve. The Bucs lost the first game 11-1.
Through four rounds of two-game series with three to go, Airline (14-8, 7-1) is on top of the standings. Benton (14-9-2, 6-2) and Parkway (13-11, 6-2) are tied for second. They are followed by Haughton (17-6, 4-4), Captain Shreve (11-14, 4-4), Natchitoches Central (14-12, 3-5), Byrd (11-12, 2-6) and Southwood (5-19, 0-8).
At Benton, Bryson Pierce pitched a complete game with 12 strikeouts. He also drove in a run.
Brady Blaylock got the Tigers on the board with an RBI-single in the first. Kenner Lauterbach drove in two runs in the second.
All the scoring was done in the first three innings.
Benton is scheduled to begin a series against Captain Shreve at 1 p.m. Saturday at Shreve.
At Airline, four Vikings had two hits. Carson Carey went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Matthew Scripture went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Mason Morgan went 2-for-3. Harrison Waxley went 2-for-4.
Caden Long had a double.
Waxley allowed four hits and no runs in five innings of relief. He struck out four and walked three.
Airline hosts Florien Friday then begins a series at Parkway at 1 Saturday.
At Parkway, four Panthers had two hits. Zach Schoenborn went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Cameron Fink went 2-for-3 with a double. Ashton Martin went 2-for-3. Tanner Kirkland went 2-for-4.
Cade Josting had a triple, and Barrett Newman had a double.
Tyler Bouillion allowed one hit in four innings.
At Captain Shreve, the Bucs outhit the Gators 6-5 but couldn’t capitalize on some early scoring opportunities. Errors also hurt.
Starting pitcher Austin Anderson went 3-for-4 with a double. He allowed five hits and two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. Landon Gaby struck out four and didn’t allow a hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Haughton is scheduled to open a series against Southwood at 1 Saturday at Haughton.
Elsewhere, Plain Dealing rolled past Ringgold 13-3 in a District 1-1A game at Plain Dealing. The Lions are scheduled to host Homer Friday.
Note: The above report is based on information provided by coaches or available on teams’ official GameChanger accounts or social media.
