The Benton Tigers and Airline Vikings won District 1-5A games Saturday afternoon.
Benton handed Byrd its first district loss 8-4 at Byrd’s LSUS field. Airline defeated Southwood 15-0 in four innings at Airline.
Elsewhere in 1-5A, Haughton fell to Natchitoches Central 3-2 in Natchitoches, and Parkway lost to Captain Shreve 10-0 at Ronnie Coker Field.
Captain Shreve (14-6, 4-1) and Byrd (9-12, 4-1) are tied for the lead. Parkway (13-6, 3-2) and Natchitoches Central (14-3, 3-2) are one game back. Benton (15-6, 2-3), Haughton (13-6, 2-3) and Airline (8-10, 2-3) are two games behind.
At LSUS, Byrd led 4-3 through four innings. The Tigers rallied with three in the top of the fifth then added two more in the seventh.
Bryson Pierce and Malachi Zeigler both went 2-for-3. Caleb Frey went 2-for-4.
Griffin Sibley had a double and three RBI.
Tanner Webb allowed three hits and no runs in 4 2/3 innings of relief. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
Benton is scheduled to visit Ashdown, Ark., Monday at 5 then complete the two-games series against Byrd at Benton Tuesday at 6.
At Airline, nine Vikings combined for 13 hits. Bo Carter went 3-for-3 with two RBI.
Micah Johnson and Avery Dollar both went 2-for-2 with two RBI. Jack Henry Smith had two RBI.
Silas Endris pitched the first three innings. He allowed one hit, struck out five and walked none. Drake Bellew pitched the final inning.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series Tuesday at Southwood at 6.
At Natchitoches Central, all the scoring happened in the second and third innings.
The Chiefs scored a run in the bottom of the second. Each team scored two in the third.
Haughton had two hits. Braden Adams and JP Cormier both doubled.
Landon Rolland pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
Natchitoches Central’s Brock Laird and Yancy Spillman had two hits each.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series at Haughton Tuesday at 6.
At Parkway, Shreve’s John Hoyt Chance limited the Panthers to three hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Cole Snell, Sean Waits and Brady Prine had Parkway’s hits. Shreve’s Aron Gillum, Andrew Sharp and Carter Reynolds had two hits apiece.
The teams are scheduled to complete the series at Shreve Tuesday at 6.