Four parish high school baseball teams are in playoff action this weekend and three softball squads play state semifinal contests today in Sulphur, hoping to reach Saturday’s round of state championship games. All parish teams play in the Select divisions.
SOFTBALL
In the softball state tournament, top-seeded Grace Christian plays at 2:30 today on Field 17 at Frasch Park against No. 5 St. Joseph’s-Plaucheville in a Division V Select semi. The state championship game is at noon Saturday.
In Division I, sixth-ranked Pineville meets No. 2 John Curtis at 5 p.m. on Field 16, with a championship game appearance Saturday at 3 at Field 14 on the line.
Buckeye’s girls, No. 1 in Division II, also play at 5 today on Field 17 against fourth-seeded E.D. White. The state final is at 3 Saturday on Field 13.
BASEBALL
The ASH baseball team rolled into next week’s state quarterfinals with a doubleheader sweep (8-1, 15-1) Thursday over No. 11 Riverdale in a Division I Select series. The Trojans will play either No. 3 Rummell or 14th-seeded Carencro next.
Buckeye’s season came to a surprising end Thursday when visiting Evangel Christian closed out a three-game series with a 10-2 victory over the Panthers, marred by nine Buckeye errors. The Panthers won Thursday’s opener, a 7-2 decision that squared the series on the heels of a 1-0 ECA victory Wednesday in Game 1 of the Division 2 Select second-round matchup.
Today, Pineville, Tioga, Menard and Glenmora are in action.
Pineville must sweep two games today to survive in its Division I series. The No. 17 Rebels are in Baton Rouge facing No. 1-ranked Catholic, which is ranked as high as third nationally. The Bears won Game 1 Thursday 8-1 and will try to close out the best-of-3 series today at 4, with an if-necessary third game to follow if Pineville can prevail.
Tioga also dropped an 8-1 decision in Game 1 of its Division I series at Brother Martin. The teams meet again at 4 today in a game available to watch via a free stream through CrescentCitySports.com, and if the No. 10 Indians take that contest, the teams will square off again Friday evening to settle the series.
In Division III, No. 4 Menard opens its best-of-3 matchup with No. 13 Fisher at home at 6:30 tonight. The teams meet again at noon Saturday with an if-necessary Game 3 to follow. Fifth-ranked Dunham is awaiting the winner in the quarterfinals, a series Menard would host.
Glenmora in Division III must win twice today to survive after University Lab won the first game of the series 9-2 in Baton Rouge. Game 2 begins at 4 and if necessary, a decisive Game 3 would follow.
Three parish teams are alive in the Division V bracket, but Grace Christian, Oak Hill and Rapides won’t play their winner-take-all single games in quarterfinal action until late next week.