The Benton Tigers and Airline Vikings won the first of two-game District 1-5A series Saturday.
Benton defeated Haughton 17-13 at Haughton, and Airline defeated Byrd 4-0 at Byrd’s LSUS field.
In the other 1-5A games, Parkway fell to Evangel Christian 12-2 at Evangel, and Captain Shreve defeated Natchitoches Central 4-1 in Natchitoches.
Benton (18-2-2, 7-0) continues to lead the district. Airline is second (11-10, 6-2) followed by Natchitoches Central (16-7, 5-3), Evangel Christian (12-7, 4-3), Captain Shreve (14-9, 4-4), Haughton (12-10, 3-4), Byrd (6-15, 2-6) and Parkway (6-13, 1-6).
At Haughton, Benton led 13-5 through four innings. The Bucs cut the lead to two with six in the fifth.
The Tigers added one in the sixth and three in the seventh to go up 17-11. Haughton scored two in the bottom of the seventh.
Benton had 17 hits. Brandon McCarthy went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Hayden Millen went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI.
Harrison Miller went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Kannon Greer went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Cole Snell went 2-for-4 with a double. Case Jorden had two hits.
Haughton’s Troy Fielding went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Carson Plant went 2-for-4 with five RBI. Seth Jorstad had two hits, including a double. Russ Barrett had two hits.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series at Benton Tuesday at 6.
At LSUS, Leo Heng pitched a two-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks. He also went 2-for-3.
Airline scored one run in the second inning. Heng singled with two outs. Ayden Hawn drew a walk. Peyton Hughes, running for Heng, scored on a single by Zach Kolniak.
The Vikings added three in the seventh.
Heng led off with a single and advanced to third on an error on a bunt attempt by Hawn. Hawn stole second and Heng scored on a wild pitch. Hawn reached third on the pitch and scored on a bunt by Drew Robinson.
Zolniak advanced to third and Robinson to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jack Henry Smith. Zolniak scored the final run on a sacrifice fly by Brock Jordan.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series Tuesday at Airline at 6.
At Evangel, Brylan Washington and Carsen Barringer had one double each.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series at Parkway Tuesday at 6.