The Airline Lady Vikings cruised into the second round of the Class 5A softball playoffs with a 14-0 victory over Zachary on Thursday at Airline.
Airline (26-3), the No. 2 seed, will play the winner between No. 15 Haughton (18-8) and No. 18 Alexandria Senior High (15-5). Haughton and ASH are scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Haughton.
The No. 17 Benton Lady Tigers lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to No. 16 Tioga on the road in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs Tuesday. Benton, which tied for second in District 1, finished the season 18-13.
At Airline, Lady Vikings sophomore Raelin Chaffin pitched a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the five-inning game.
Every Airline player in the lineup got at least one hit.
Jina Baffuto went 3-for-3 with two RBI. Makenzie Chaffin went 3-for-3 with a double. Caroline Easom had a home run, double and five RBI. Maddie Ennis went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Jessica Grubbs went 2-for-3. Jessica Baffuto had a double. Lexi Gray, Paris Endris and Hanna Heng had one hit apiece.
Airline scored three runs in each of the first three innings and then put five on the board in the fourth.
Zachary, the No. 31 seed, closed its season at 7-24.
At Tioga, Benton rallied from an early 6-2 deficit. The Lady Tigers trailed 8-6 after five.
Emily Angelo hit a home run, her second of the game, with two outs in the sixth to cut Tioga’s lead to 8-7.
Anna Claire Kratzer led off the top of the seventh with a homer to tie it. Olivia Oliphint followed with a triple, but the Lady Tigers were unable to get her home.
It didn’t take long for the Lady Indians (14-13) to end it. The leadoff batter walked and a triple brought her home.
In addition to her triple, Oliphint smacked two home runs and had four RBI. Angelo had two RBI.
Layla Baker, Madison Wells, Madi Simms and Joely Fletcher also had hits. Baker and Wells drew two walks each.
