The Airline Lady Vikings, Benton Lady Tigers and Haughton Lady Bucs all opened District 1-5A play with victories Monday.
Airline edged defending champion Natchitoches Central 6-5 at Airline, Benton routed Huntington 15-0 at Benton and Haughton defeated Captain Shreve 9-3 at Captain Shreve.
At Airline, Natchitoches Central scored two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.
Aleena Duran tied it with a home run with one out in the sixth.
Airline’s Emily Rachal got a strikeout with two on and two out in the top of the seventh.
Madalynn Shortridge led off the bottom of the inning with a single. Ryan Hutcinson’s sacrifice bunt moved Shortridge to second.
Lindsey Marcinkus was hit by a pitch with two outs. Shortridge advanced to third on a passed ball then scored the gamewinner on a single by Rachal.
Rachal finished 3-for-4. Kemora Guidry and Shortridge both went 2-for-4. Ainsley Jones had a double.
Airline starter Taylor Smith went five innings. She allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked none. Rachal struck out five in the final two innings.
Airline (7-1) is scheduled to continue district play Thursday at Huntington at 5 p.m.
At Benton, the Lady Tigers extended their winning streak to seven with the three-inning victory.
Audrey Stark hit a two-run home run. Dylan Defee and Olivia Livers had two hits each. Juju Vincent pitched a perfect three innings with seven strikeouts.
Benton (9-1) is scheduled to continue district play Thursday at Haughton at 6.
At Captain Shreve, Saylor White went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Clara Shaffer had two hits and two RBI. Kylie Small and Carsyn Kizzia had two hits each.
Charlee Prothro went the distance. She scattered seven hits, struck out six and walked one.
Haughton improved to 6-8.