The Airline Lady Vikings claimed a share of the District 1-5A championship with an 8-0 victory over Southwood on Thursday at Airline.
The Lady Vikings improved to 13-5 overall and finished district play 6-1. They will share the title with Natchitoches Central (18-7, 6-1).
Haughton and Benton, which handed Natchitoches Central its only district loss, finished one game back with 4-2 district marks.
The championship is Airline’s fourth straight. The Lady Vikings won in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Airline is a combined 41-2 in district play in the four championship seasons.
There was no champion last season because the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With a week left in the regular season, Airline, Haughton and Benton are all on pace to make the playoffs.
According to GeauxPreps.com, Airline is No. 6 in the Class 5A power rankings. Haughton (14-9) is No. 14 and Benton (11-13) No. 24.
Benton and Haughton both dropped non-district games Thursday. The Lady Tigers fell to Calvary Baptist 12-1 at Calvary, and the Lady Bucs lost to Cedar Creek 14-9 at Haughton.
Parkway (8-13), which did not play Thursday, is No. 32.
The top 32 teams in the final rankings qualify for the playoffs with the top 16 hosting first-round games.
At Airline, Elena Heng led the Lady Vikings at the plate, going 4-for-4.
Pitcher Kenzee Perry, Jina Baffuto and Morgan Kunath all went 2-for-3. Paris Endris hit a home run.
At Haughton, the Lady Bucs cut a 10-3 lead to 10-8 with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. But the Lady Cougars scored four in the top of the seventh.
Brooklynn Bockhaus went 2-for-3 with a double three RBI. Reagan Jorstad and Alayiah Mingo had two hits each. Mingo had two RBI.
Elia Vickers belted a two-run home run. Madison Trujillo had a double.
At Calvary, Benton’s Christina Gegg had a double, one of three hits allowed by Riley Walker in the five-inning game.
Calvary (22-5) extended its winning streak to 18 games.
NOTE: The above report is based on information on teams’ GameChanger accounts and provided by coaches.
