The No. 10 seed Haughton Bucs defeated No. 7 Neville 3-1 in the first game of their best-of-3 non-select Division I second-round playoff series Friday night in Monroe.
Meanwhile, No. 9 Parkway and No. 20 Benton suffered tough one-run losses in the opening games of their series.
The Panthers fell to No. 8 St. Amant 4-3 in 10 innings in St. Amant, and the Tigers lost to No. 4 Sam Houston 2-1 in Moss Bluff.
At Neville, Austin Anderson pitched a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts. He came close to pitching a perfect game.
Only two Tigers reached base, one on a hit-by-by pitch in the third and the other on a leadoff single in the fifth.
Anderson struck out the side in the fifth and seventh.
Haughton scored all three of its runs in the top of the first.
Caleb Brown was hit by a pitch and Christian Turner followed with a double. Colin Rains’ single scored Brown.
Anderson was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases. Brayden Stovall’s sacrifice fly scored Turner. Rains then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
Turner and Rains had two hits each.
Haughton improved to 25-11. Neville dropped to 23-11.
Game 2 is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday. If Neville wins, Game 3 is scheduled to be played at 2 p.m.
At St. Amant, the game went into extra innings tied at 1.
Zachary Clute scored a run in the top of the eighth on Trenton Lape’s two-out single. The Gators’ Blaise Lalonde tied it with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning.
The Panthers took the lead again in the ninth. Cole Snell drew a walk with one out and Clute drew one with two away.
Snell stole third and scored on a throwing error.
But St. Amant scored a run with two outs to keep the game going.
After Parkway went down in order in the top of the 10th, the Gators scored a run on a bases-loaded walk to win it.
The Panthers were one strike away from victory in the eighth and ninth.
Parkway got a gutsy performance from starter Sean Waits. He scattered six hits and walked only one in six innings.
The Panthers almost won despite being outhit 12-4.
Parkway took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Trenton Lape led off with a double. He advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Zach Schoenborn and scored on a passed ball.
St. Amant tied it in the fifth on two-out single.
Parkway dropped to 23-9. St. Amant improved to 26-9.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 1. If Parkway wins, Game 3 is scheduled to be played at 4.
At Sam Houston, the game was a classic pitchers’ duel that lasted just over an hour-and-half.
Benton’s Sawyer Simmons and San Houston starter Cole Flanagan were both outstanding.
Simmons allowed just two hits, walked only one and struck out six in six innings.
Flanagan allowed three hits and walked two in five innings. Nik Toups allowed no hits, walked one and hit one batter in the final two innings.
Sam Houston loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the third on two singles and a hit-by-pitch. The Tigers turned a double play but a run scored.
Benton tied it in the top of the fourth. Cale Latimer drew a walk with two outs, advanced to second on a single by Kenner Lauterbach and scored on a single by Gavin Jacobs.
The Broncos scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning with no outs.
In the sixth, the Tigers put runners at first and second with two outs on hit-by-pitch and walk. But Toup induced a groundout to end the threat.
Benton dropped to 21-16. Sam Houston improved to 28-4.
Game 2 is scheduled for noon Saturday. If Benton wins, Game 3 is scheduled to be played at 3.
