The Airline Lady Vikings and Haughton Lady Bucs got their seasons off to very good starts with two victories over the same teams Monday at Louisiana Tech.
Airline, the defending District 1-5A champion, defeated West Monroe 5-1 and Ruston 13-2. Haughton held off West Monroe 6-5 and defeated Ruston 9-4.
Senior Brooklyn Brandon and freshman Jina Baffuto both had three hits for Airline against Ruston. One of Brandon’s hits was a triple.
Makenzie Chaffin went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Hannah Heng had two hits and two RBI. Jessica Baffuto and Maddie Ennis had two RBI each.
Raelin Chaffin and Jessica Grubbs allowed two hits each in the five-inning game.
Chaffin, the District 1-5A MVP last season and an LSU commit, pitched a 3-hitter with 12 strikeouts against West Monroe.
Ennis went 2-for-3 and Makenzie Chaffin belted a solo home run. Caroline Easom had a two-RBI double.
Airline broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ennis’ double with two outs scored Makenzie Chaffin and Ennis. Brandon brought home Ennis with a single and eventually stole home for the final run.
Airline opens defense of its 1-5A title Thursday at Captain Shreve at 6:30.
Freshman Brooklynn Bockhaus went 3-for-4 with a double and triple in Haughton’s victory over Ruston. Reagan Jorstad also had three hits, including a double, and three RBI.
Briley Leblanc had two RBI. Freshman pitcher Whitley Cannon scattered seven hits, struck out seven and allowed just one earned run.
Six Lady Bucs had singles in the victory over West Monroe. Mia McWilliams and Holly Tony had two RBI each.
Shelby Hensley went four innings for the win. Tony didn’t allow a run in one inning of relief. Cannon shut the Lady Rebels down in the final two innings. She didn’t allow a hit, walked none and struck out three.
Haughton opens 1-5A play Thursday at Evangel Christian at 6.
