The No. 14 seed Minden Crimson Tide completed a two-game sweep of No. 19 Cecilia in the first round of the non-select Division II playoffs with a 12-1 rout Friday at Griffith Stadium.
The Tide (21-14) will visit No. 3 Lutcher (23-11), which received a first-round bye, in the second round next week. Cecilia closed its season 17-16.
The No. 13 seed Lakeside Warriors rolled past No. 20 Crowley 15-5 in five innings in Game One of their non-select Division III best-of-3 first round series at home.
The Warriors (19-14) and Gents (16-16) will play Game Two Saturday at 2. Game Three, if necessary, will immediately follow.
The No. 24 seed North Webster Knights’ season came to an end with a 14-2 loss to No. 9 French Settlement in Game Two of their non-select Division III first-round series at French Settlement. The Knights closed their season 11-13.
At Minden, the Tide had six hits and took advantage of 11 walks and four Cecilia errors.
Minden also got its second outstanding pitching performance of the series. Bryson Ranger pitched a two-hitter. He struck out two and walked one in the five-inning game.
Minden was the designated visiting team. The Tide scored three runs in the top of the second. They made it 6-0 with three more in the third.
After the Bulldogs scored their only run in the bottom of the third, Minden scored three in the fourth and took the 15-5 lead with three more in the fifth.
Keegan Pope went 2-for-2 with three RBI. Jaxon Smith went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Ranger had a two-RBI single that gave the Tide a 6-0 lead in the third. Rider Miller had two RBI. Hudson Brown drew three walks. Landyn Huddleston and Landon Brewer drew two each.
At Lakeside, the Warriors trailed 5-4 after three innings. They scored six in the bottom of the fourth and five in the fifth.
All nine batters in the lineup had hits. Noah Redding and Eric Jones both went 2-for-2. Jon Jon Dick went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Drake Chreene went 2-for-4. Brock Case had a double. Peyton Gray had a single and two RBI. Gage Williams, Eli Campbell and Jake Glass all singled.
Williams went the distance. He allowed five hits, struck out two and walked one.
Campbell, Glass, Jones and Redding led off the fourth with consecutive singles. Gray’s sacrifice fly gave the Warriors the lead for good.
Dick’s two-out double scored two runs. The last two runs were the result of an error.
Lakeside took advantage of an error and two walks to score its first run in the fifth. After Redding scored on an error, Cade’s RBI-double made it 13-5. Case scored on a wild pitch. Chreene’s RBI-single with one out brought the game to an end.