The Airline Lady Vikings and Benton Lady Tigers won District 1-5A games Wednesday.
Airline defeated Parkway 11-1 in five innings at Parkway. Benton downed Byrd 15-0 in four innings at Benton.
Benton (15-8, 5-2) and Parkway (8-14, 5-2) finished tied for second in District 1-5A, two games behind Natchitoches Central (15-11, 7-0). Airline (17-9, 4-3) and Haughton (14-12, 4-3) finished tied for fourth.
The district featured several close games among the top teams.
According to GeauxPreps.com, Airline is No. 13 in the non-select Division I power rankings, Natchitoches Central No. 17, Benton No. 19, Haughton No. 24 and Parkway No. 32. The top 26 teams in the final rankings make the playoffs. The No. 7-16 seeds host first-round games.
The final day of the season is April 9. All four parish teams still have plenty of opportunities to win more games and move up in the rankings.
Airline scored three runs in the first inning, one in the third and two in the fourth. The Lady Vikings ended the game with five in the fifth.
Emily Rachel pitched all five innings. She allowed seven his, struck out 10 and walked none.
Eight Lady Vikings combined for 10 hits and seven RBI. Elena Heng continued her outstanding senior season, going 3-for-4 with a triple.
Lindsey Marcinkus had an RBI-double. Madalynn Shortridge had two steals.
Parkway’s Chloe Larry went 3-for-3 with a triple. Dakota Howard went 2-for-3.
Airline visits Quitman Thursday at 5:30. Parkway visits Logansport at 5.
At Benton, Christina Gegg went 3-for-3 with a double. Dylan Defee went 2-for-2 with a home run and double.
Ashley Promes went 2-for-2. Lainey Lafitte went 2-for-3. Audrey Stark and Olivia Livers had one triple each.
Ava Defee gave up just two hits and struck out eight.
Benton hosts Bradley, Ark., Thursday at 6:30.
Elsewhere, Plain Dealing swept Booker T. Washington 13-7 and 9-4 at BTW.
Hannah Wafer went 3-for-3 with four RBI in the three-inning first game. Sanaa Lyles and Nevaeh Fisk both went 2-for-3.
Zoe Johnson had a double and three RBI. Sophie Green got the win.
Fisk went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI in the second game. Pitcher Lani Lambka had a double and two RBI. Wafer had a double.
Lambka started and went 3 1/3 innings. She had eight strikeouts. Katie Green got the final two outs of the four-inning game.
Plain Dealing (9-6) hosts Bossier in a doubleheader Thursday at 4.
Bossier dropped two one-run District 1-4A games to Woodlawn, 9-8 and 6-5, at Woodlawn.