The 2023 season came to and end for parish schools Saturday.
The Parkway Panthers, Haughton Bucs and Benton Tigers were all eliminated from the non-select Division I playoffs after losing best-of-3 second-round series on the road.
After a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss in 10 innings in Game 1 Friday night, No. 9 seed Parkway
forced a decisive Game 3 against No. 8 St. Amant with an 11-1 rout in Game 2. But the Gators advanced with a 13-1 victory in Game 3.
Haughton, the No. 10 seed, needed one victory against No. 7 Neville Saturday to advance after winning Game 1 3-1 Friday night. But the Tigers won Game 2 9-2 then squeaked past the Bucs 1-0 in Game 3.
Benton, the No. 20 seed, fell to No. 4 Sam Houston 9-1. The Broncos, who won Game 1 2-1 Friday, won the series two games to none.
At St. Amant, Parkway, the designated home team, ended Game 2 with four runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Parkway scored six in the second to take a 7-0 lead. The Panthers loaded the bases with two outs on a walk by Abel Thetford and singles by Ashton Martin and Shawn Driggers. Brandon Levy scored two runs with a single.
Zach Schoenborn then smacked a two-run home run to make it 6-0. Three straight walks and an error led to the final run.
Trenton Lape had a bases loaded triple in the fifth then scored on an error.
Driggers went 2-for-4 in the game. Lape and Levy finished with three RBI each.
Colton Smith allowed three hits and struck out five.
After a scoreless first inning in Game 3, St. Amant scored three in the second then added five in the third and fourth.
Barrett Newman went 2-for-2 with a double. Levy went 2-for-3. Zachary Clute had an RBI-double.
Parkway closed its season 24-10. St. Amant (27-10) will visit No. 1 West Monroe in the quarterfinals.
At Neville, Haughton got one hit of Neville’s Michael Plummer in Game 3.
The Tigers scored the lone run in the bottom of the sixth on two singles and a walk, all coming with two outs.
Thanks to five walks, a hit-by-pitch and single by Zach Ross, the Bucs had baserunners every inning except one.
Haughton’s best chance to score came in the top of the third. Caleb Brown and Christian Turner drew back-to-back walks with one out. But Plummer induced a flyout and a fielder’s choice.
The Bucs also has runners in scoring position in the second and fifth.
Brown went the distance. He scattered six hits, struck out four and walked three.
In Game 2, Haughton was the designated home team. The Bucs trailed 3-0 after five, but the Tigers added one in the sixth and five in the seventh to go up 9-0.
Haughton had three hits. Brown, Austin Anderson and Drew Palmer all had singles.
Brown and Turner had one RBI each in the seventh.
Haughton closed its season 25-13. Neville improved to 25-11 and will visit No. 2 seed Barbe in the quarterfinals.
At Sam Houston, Benton got into an early hole and couldn’t generate enough offense against three Broncos pitchers to climb out.
The Tigers trailed 5-0 after two innings. Six of Sam Houston’s 10 hits came in those innings.
Benton got two hits, singles by Gavin Jacobs and Cole Weir. Cale Latimer drew two walks.
Thomas Allen allowed just one hit and one run in 3 1/3 innings of relief. He struck out struck out four.
The District 1-5A champion Tigers closed their season 21-17. Sam Houston improved to 29-4 and will host No. 4 Live Oak in the quarterfinals.
