The Parkway Panthers clinched at least a share of the District 1-5A baseball championship with a 17-6 victory over Captain Shreve on Thursday at Parkway.
The Panthers improved to 22-5 overall and 10-1 in district. Parkway closes district play Friday at Shreve at 6.
Byrd (13-14, 7-2), which defeated Southwood 6-2 Thursday, is in second place. The Yellow Jackets have three district games left. Parkway can win the outright title with a victory over Shreve or a Byrd loss.
Parkway has had a remarkable turnaround. In 2016, when 1-5A became a seven-team district, the Panthers went 3-9 in district play. In 2017, they went 5-7. Last year, Parkway went 9-3 and finished second to Captain Shreve.
In the other District 1-5A game Thursday, Airline edged Evangel Christian 3-2 at Airline.
Meanwhile, Benton continued to roll in District 1-4A. The Tigers defeated Minden 6-1 at Minden.
Benton (24-5, 8-0) came into the game No. 4 in the Class 4A power rankings, according to louisianasportsline.com. Minden (19-6, 7-2) was No. 6.
Defending state champion Benton, which is moving up to District 1-5A next year, is looking for its seventh straight district title.
In a non-district game, Bossier defeated Simsboro 11-1 at Rusheon.
At Parkway, nine Panthers combined for 12 hits in the five-inning game.
Winning pitcher Hayden Knotts went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.
Amani Larry and Peyton Lewis had two hits each. Both had a double.
Eric Brown didn’t get a hit but he had three RBI. Christian Vicknair and Gabe Larry had two RBI each. Collier Cloinger had a double.
Knotts went three innings. He allowed two hits and two earned runs. Carden Fink pitched two innings.
Parkway rolled to a 14-0 lead with six runs in the first and eight in the second. The Panthers scored three in the bottom of the fourth for a 17-5 lead.
Parkway benefitted from seven Shreve errors and five walks. The Gators dropped to 12-15 and 2-7.
At Airline, Bryson Connell pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts and only one walk.
The Vikings got only four hits off Evangel’s Blake Shapen.
Airline took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Hayden Travinski smacked a one-out double. Jamal Johnson, running for Travinski, advanced to third on Dalton Burrell’s groundout and scored on a passed ball.
Evangel scored two in the top of the fourth with just one hit. An error, walk, hit batter and passed ball helped the Eagles.
Hayden Lope tied it in the bottom of the inning with a two-out home run over the left-field fence.
The Vikings scored the go-ahead run in the fifth. Lucas McKain got things going with a two-out single. After Cole Tabor walked, Connell scored McKain with a double to left field.
Connell allowed just one hit in the final two innings, a two-out single in the seventh. He ended the game with a strikeout.
Airline improved to 17-12 and 5-4. The Vikings have won five in a row. Evangel fell to 12-14 and 5-4.
At Minden, Benton led 2-1 after five and then pulled away with two runs in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Northwestern State signee Cole Horton had a huge day, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and three RBI.
Sam Simmons went 3-for-4 with a double. Clint Lasiter and Tanner Timms had two hits each.
Landon Joyner pitched a complete game. He allowed six hits and walked none while striking out eight.
After three scoreless innings, Benton broke through with two in the top of the fourth.
Lasiter led off with with a single and advanced to second on an error. He scored on a double by Horton. Simmons followed with a double, scoring courtesy runner Hayden Gatti.
Minden got on board in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a double and an error.
Horton led off Benton’s sixth with his second double. Gatti, again running for Horton, advanced to third on a Simmons’ single and scored on a groundout by Daniel Halbert.
Cade Paddy’s two-out single scored Simmons, making it 4-1.
Horton hit a two-run home run over the right-field fence with one out in the seventh. It came after a single by Lasiter.
At Rusheon, Bossier’s Jon-Mikal Robertson pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the five-inning game. He also went 2-for-3 with a double.
Jamaal Brooks went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Cody Deen had two hits, including a double.
Bossier (10-12) led 1-0 after two then scored four in the third and six in the fourth.
In a District 1-1A game Wednesday, Plain Dealing defeated Lincoln Prep 9-8 at home.
