The No. 13 seed Benton Tigers hung with No. 1 seed Barbe before falling 4-1 in the semifinals of the non-select Division I semifinals Thursday at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
After four scoreless innings, Barbe broke through with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Bucs added one more in the sixth to go up 4-0.
Benton scored with two outs in the top of the seventh on a single by Hayden Millen. Griffin Sibley led off with a double. But Diego Corrales induced a groundout to end the game.
Benton closed its season 31-11. The Tigers reached the Ochsner LHSAA State Tournament for the first time since moving up to Class 5A in 2020, knocking off two higher seeds en route.
Barbe (34-6) will face No. 2 West Monroe, which defeated No. 3 Sam Houston 7-1, for the state championship Saturday. It will be the second time in the last three years the two have played for the title.
Benton starter Kade Bryant got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first then held the Bucs to a single the next four innings.
Barbe scored its first run in the fifth on a one-out single by Myles Ledoux following a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt. Owen Galt then hit a home run to center to make it 3-0.
Benton threatened in the sixth. Hudson Brignac and Bryson Pierce had back-to-back singles with one out.
Bryant was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But the Bucs turned a double play on a fly ball.
Barbe scored in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brit Vick.
Corrales pitched a complete game. He allowed six hits, struck out six and walked none.
Bryant allowed seven hits in five innings with four strikeouts and one walk.
Tanner Webb replaced Bryant in the sixth with a runner at first. He didn’t allow a hit and walked one with one strikeout.
The game was the final one for seniors Brignac, Pierce, Cody Wilhite, Brooks Prewitt and Blake Warner.
In the last three seasons, Benton won 71 games and two district championships.
Thursday’s starting lineup included seven underclassmen— juniors Bryant, Sibley, Jackson Jones, sophomores Caleb Frey and Case Jorden and freshmen Millen and Malachi Zeigler.
Webb, who pitched a three-hitter in Game 3 against St. Amant in the quarterfinals, is a junior.