Bossier Parish teams had the upper hand Friday on the first day of the first Battle of the Borders: Louisiana vs. Arkansas.
Host Parkway and Haughton swept their opponents. The Panthers defeated Morrilton 4-0 and Vilonia 3-2 at Parkway. Haughton downed Vilonia 7-2 and Morrilton 6-1 at Haughton.
Benton knocked off Harding Academy 5-3 at Benton. In the only game that didn’t match teams from Louisiana and Arkansas, the Tigers defeated Evangel Christian 7-0 in a game postponed from Thursday.
Nashville picked up the only Arkansas win, edging Evangel 7-6 at Evangel.
At Parkway, Collier Cloinger and Christian Vicknair had two hits each, including doubles, in the victory over Morrilton.
Starter Drake Fontenot pitched five strong innings, allowing just one hit while walking three.
With Parkway (10-4) ahead 2-0, Hayden Knotts entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the sixth. He got a pop out, strikeout and groundout to end the threat.
Knotts then pitched a perfect seventh to get the save.
Christion Rayner pitched a four-hitter with nine strikeouts and only one walk against Vilonia.
The Panthers only got three hits against Vilonia’s Caden Archer. Eric Brown had an RBI-triple.
Parkway broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth.
Cloinger singled with one out and scored on Brown’s triple.
Parkway edged Nashville 5-4 on Saturday. Cloinger and Rayner had two hits each. Caleb Reese had a double and two RBI.
Parker Stevens and Eric Brown combined to allow four hits. Brown struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings of relief to get the win.
At Haughton, Dustin Barron pitched a complete game against Vilonia, scattering eight hits.
He and Landon Thompson had a double each. Caleb Green had two RBI.
Barron had a shutout going through five innings. Vilonia put two runs on the board with three consecutive hits to start the sixth. But the Bucs turned a double play and Barron got a flyout to end the inning.
Peyton Stovall went 2-for-4 with a double against Morrilton. Barron had a double and two RBI.
Logan Wilkerson had an RBI double.
Starter Brodie Shankle got the win. He gave up one hit and one run in 4 2/3 innings, walked six and struck out five.
Wilkerson allowed two hits and struck out two in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
Haughton improved to 11-2 with a 4-2 victory over Harding on Saturday.
CJ McWilliams went 2-for-3. Peyton Stovall had a triple.
At Benton, Cade Scott, Daniel Halbert, Tanner Timms and JT Brice all had two hits for the Tigers (13-4) against Harding. All four had one double as did Brennan Blaylock. Sam Simmons had two RBI.
Benton broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Timms and Brice led off with back-to-back doubles. Timms was held up at third and Scott walked to load the bases. Clint Lasiter’s single scored Timms.
With one out, Simmons hit a fly ball to center that scored Brice.
Brock VanHoy scattered six hits in six innings and struck out six to get the win. Dane Stearns got the save. The Tigers ended the game with a double play.
Landon Joyner pitched a one-hitter with four strikeouts against Evangel. He came close to pitching a perfect game, allowing just two Eagles to reach base on a single and hit-by-pitch. The Tigers erased the latter with a double play.
Scott, Halbert and Cole Horton has two hits apiece. Horton drove in two runs.
Lasiter had a double. Simmons had three RBI, including a two-run single in Benton’s four-run sixth.
Benton rolled past Morrilton 10-2 Saturday. Simmons went 2-for-3 with a triple, double and three RBI.
Scott went 2-for-3. Timms had two hits. Brice smacked a two-run home run. Halbert had a double.
Airline found the going tough against some challenging competition on the first two days of the Sulphur tournament.
The Vikings (7-7) lost to Dutchtown 6-0 Thursday and Sam Houston 8-0 and Zachary 11-1 Friday. Sam Houston (18-1) was No. 1 in the latest Class 5A power rankings and Zachary (14-3), which handed Sam Houston its only loss 5-1 Thursday, was No. 7.
The Vikings rebounded Saturday with a 3-2 victory over host Sulphur.
Bryson Connell went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Chris Lutterman went 2-for-2. Will Tynes had a double.
Dalton Burrell allowed three hits in four innings and struck out eight. Caden Jones struck out six in three innings.
Connell allowed four hits and no earned runs and struck out six in five innings against Dutchtown. But the Vikings managed just three hits.
Hayden Travinski had two of Airline’s three hits against Sam Houston.
Tynes had two hits, including a double, against Zachary.
Bossier’s Coleman Beeson pitched a three-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over Castor Friday in the Stanley tournament.
Jon-Mikal Robertson singles in the game’s only run in the first.
Bossier improved to 4-6.
