BROOKHAVEN — The Natchez 11-year-old All-Stars got the luck of the draw Saturday.

Natchez won a late-night battle with the Lincoln Americans Friday night but lost Saturday to that same team to force a three-way tie in the district tournament.

The three teams’ coaches drew out of a hat to determine which team would advance to the district touranment and which two teams would have to face each other in an elimination game Saturday afternoon.

Natchez won that draw. McComb beat the Lincoln Americans in the game and Natchez will face McComb at 6 p.m. Monday for the title.

Ben Foster was the winning pitcher for Natchez Friday night.

Haughton 10, Concordia 11s 6

PONCHATOULA, La. — The Haughton 11-year-old All-Stars scored six runs in the first inning, four of which came on a grand slam home run, as they held on to defeat the Concordia Parish 11-year-old All-Stars in a winners’ bracket game Saturday morning at the state tournament.

“We tried to play catch up (after that). The boys hit the ball hard,” Concordia 11s head coach Joe Curtis said. “Those guys showed a lot of heart. Those guys kept on fighting even though we got down so big. Take away that one hit and we’d be tied. They battled hard.”

Caden Poole was charged with the loss after allowing those six runs in the first inning. Tristan Weatherly pitched the second inning and Tanner Jenkins pitched the final four innings.

The Concordia 11s dropped to the losers’ bracket after the loss.

Concordia came back out and re-focused in its final game of the day against Ponchatoula.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the last inning, Braxton Hall drilled a two-RBI double to end the game in walk-off fashion for the Concordia 11s.

The 9-8 victory gave the Concordia 11s a 2-1 record in pool play, but that was not enough to advance them to the championship. Haughton, the only team to defeat Concordia, ended pool play at 3-0 and will play for the championship.

Drake Smith, Addison Curtis, Tristan Weatherly, Caden Poole, Trey Poole and Tanner Jenkins each doubled in the game for Concordia.

Joe Curtis said his team overcame the loss well, and he was proud of the performance despite not making it to the final.

“I was real proud of the boys,” he said. “We didn’t have a problem with any of them. They are just a good group of kids with big hearts.”

Concordia 12s 17,

DeSoto Parish 2

HAUGHTON, La. — J.R. Davis pitched a one-hit shutout and the Concordia Parish 12-year-old All-Stars got home runs from Christian Fort and Landon Havard in a 17-2 win over the DeSoto Parish All-Stars Saturday afternoon at the state tournament.

This losers’ bracket game in the double-elimination tournament needed just three innings to take place. The combination of Davis’ pitching and the bats coming alive early kept DeSoto from having any chance of a comeback.

“He (Davis) did a very good job. He allowed just one hit,” Concordia 12s head coach Jamie Lancaster said. “I was very pleased (with the team’s hitting). They came back and hit the ball like I know they can do. They’re back on track.”

The Concordia 12s’ offense got going from the start as they put up six runs in the first inning. They added eight runs in the second inning, including a three-run home run from Fort and a two-run homer by Havard, that put the game away. They ended the game by way of the 15-run-after-three-innings rule with three runs in the third inning.

The Concordia 12s finished with 10 hits in the game, and Lancaster added that he was happy with the way his team bounced back after losing to Shreveport in the opening.

“We’re feeling confident going into the next game,” Lancaster said.

That next game will be against the loser of the Bossier/Ruston game today at 3 p.m.

“They’re both very tough teams. They come out of District 4,” Lancaster said.

Concordia 9s lose one, win one

PONCHATOULA, La. — The Concordia Parish 9-year-old All-Stars were just one inning away from defeating Ville Platte Saturday afternoon, remaining undefeated at the state tournament and all but automatically advancing to the semifinals.

The Ville Platte All-Stars, however, had other ideas as it rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning and kept the game-tying run stranded at third base in the bottom of the fifth to make the Concordia 9s’ opportunity to play in Sunday’s semifinal round even tougher.

“We still have a shot. We’re 1-1 right now. We have to hold Vinton to three runs or less and beat them to advance to tomorrow’s semifinals,” Concordia 9s head coach Buddy Brown said.

The Concordia 9s went into the bottom of the fourth trailing Ville Platte 2-1 before Caleb Smith singled to tie the game at 2-2. They added two more runs in the frame to go ahead 4-2.

“Caleb Smith, Sam Mosby and C.J. Chatman were hitting the ball the best today,” Brown said. “We had the tying run at third base with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and we couldn’t get the runner across.”

The Concordia 9s got a great pitching performance from Rhet McDonald in the second game of the day to win 6-3 over Benton, La.

McDonald went four innings without giving up a hit to get the win. Peyton Fort tripled in the game, and McDonald and Brett Walsworth each had doubles.

The Concordia 9s will play in the semi-final at 1 p.m. today against Monroe.

Ferriday Gators split two

PONCHATOULA, La. — Alexandria rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the Ferriday Gators Dixie Debs team 5-4 Saturday morning in the opening round of the state tournament.

Mollie Devening was the losing pitcher for Ferriday as she pitched all seven innings. The Gators fell to the losers’ bracket and took on Caldwell Parish Saturday at 4 p.m.

Ginny Daggett and Kimble Devening collected two hits a piece for the Gators, and Mollie Devening went 3-for-3 at the plate.

Ferriday stayed alive in the state tournament by defeating Caldwell Parish 10-4 in the team’s second game of the day.

Ellen Bairnsfather got the win for Ferriday.

Savannah Johnston and Keke Collins led the way offensively. Collins was 2-for-3 with a double, and Johnston was 2-for-4 with a double. Daggett and Mallory Harrigill also had two hits each in the game.

Ferriday will face the loser of Winnsboro and Jefferson Parish Recreation Department at 9 a.m. today.