Matt Vines

COUSHATTA – Red River High baseball has already made program history just by appearing in the quarterfinals.

But the Bulldogs (24-8) don’t want the history-making to end as they host No. 5 Doyle (18-12) in the Division III Non-Select quarterfinals series.

The first game is Friday at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s action starting at 11 a.m. in the best-of-three series.

The winner advances to Sulphur for a chance to play in the single-elimination semifinals and championship games.

The winner of the series will face the victors of No. 1 seed South Beauregard and No. 9 Loreauville.

Both Red River and Doyle earned first-round byes and swept their second-round opponents.

The Bulldogs’ pitching took center stage in wins of 3-2 and 6-2 against Pine Prairie.

Red River faced a 2-0 deficit and a no-hit bid from Pine Prairie’s Riley Fontenot through five innings, but doubles from Jaxun Moore and Tyler Hughes jumpstarted the offense with an Eli Murphy two-RBI single proving to be the game winner.

Hughes recorded the final three outs in relief in support of winning pitcher Aston Hester.

Red River got more late offense in the second game with six runs coming over the final three innings as Hughes went the distance on the mound.

Neither the home or the visiting teams have hit a home run all season in Red River’s home park, so line drives in the gaps and finding other ways to manufacture runs will be key factors.

For Doyle, they handled fellow District 3-2A foe Many in 9-3 and 8-7 wins.

In the deciding game, Doyle started down a 7-3 deficit before piling on five runs in the sixth inning.

Benesta and Barcia combined for all seven of Doyle’s Ris in the deciding game.

Doyle’s regular-season schedule varied wildly being in District 6-3A with powerhouses like Parkview Baptist and University Lab along with programs who aren’t well established such as Port Allen, Madison Prep and Glen Oaks.

In games decided by one run, Doyle lost its first four in that category before winning its last four, signaling the Tigers learned how to win close games.

Red River is 3-2 in one-run games, including the first contest against Pine Prairie.