The No. 13 seed Airline Lady Vikings came close to pulling off a big upset in the second round of the non-select Division I playoffs Tuesday.
Airline led No. 4 East Ascension 2-1 through four innings, but the Lady Spartans scored two on a home run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth en route to a 3-2 victory in Gonzalez.
Airline closed its season 18-12. East Ascension improved to 21-8.
Elsewhere, No. 12 seed Plain Dealing fell to No. 5 Merryville 15-0 in the second round of the non-select Division IV playoffs at Merryville.
Plain Dealing finished 16-7. Merryville improved to 20-5.
No. 19 seed Benton (16-14) visits No. 3 West Monroe (24-8) in a non-select Division I second-round game Wednesday at 5:30.
At East Ascension, Airline got an outstanding effort from pitcher Taylor Smith. She scattered five hits, struck out seven and walked two. Madalynn Shortridge had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double.
East Ascension took a 1-0 lead in the first. Airline took the lead with two in the fourth.
Leadoff batter Tanesciya Thomas drew a walk. Mauriana Holcomb doubled with two outs, scoring Thomas. Tatianna Frese reached on an error and Holcomb scored on the same error.
The Lady Spartans took the lead in the fifth on the two-run home run by Emma Blanchard.
Shortridge led off the top of the seventh with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ainsley Jones. But East Ascension pitcher Tiereny Zenon got a strikeout then induced a flyout to end the game.
Haley Whiteside, Ainsley Hollis and Abby Hutson had the Lady Vikings’ other hits, all singles.
At Merryville, the Lady Panthers’ Brooklyn Steward pitched three perfect innings.