The district baseball season began for area teams on Thursday with the Class 2 District 5 tournament in Silex.

Van-Far 10 Louisiana 0 in six innings

Van-Far (7-13) will play at least another day at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Eastern Missouri Conference foe Clopton (7-10). The Indians defeated another conference foe Louisiana (1-15) in another double-digit victory over the Bulldogs. 

After three innings, Van-Far owned a 6-0 lead. It scored all of those runs without the benefit of a hit, plating two runs via a walk in a four-run second inning. Tyson Douglas had a RBI groundout that inning and was one of seven Indians with a RBI.

Malik Douglas, Gage Gibson, Gibson Condie, Carson Huff, Gaven Gaston and Garrett Hopke also had a RBI.

Reece Culwell struck out five through the first innings, and Gibson Condie struck out nine in 3 1/3 innings. Louisiana only had one hit.

Van-Far lost 7-6 at Clopton in eight innings on May 1 this season.

Sturgeon 6 Paris 3

The season for Paris (3-12) came to an end on Thursday after not being able to maintain the lead after three runs in the first inning.

Luke Ensor and Kaden Graupman each made Sturgeon (8-10) pay for two walks in the first inning by driving them in with RBI singles. A bases-loaded walk drawn by Payden Crain made it 3-0.

Four Paris batters were granted free bases via a walk after Sturgeon allowed five -- via walk or hit by pitch -- in the first inning. The Bulldogs took a 4-3 lead with a three-run fourth inning.

Elliot Key pitched five innings for the Coyotes, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks. Sturgeon scored three times with the bases loaded in the fourth via a hit by pitch, a RBI single by pitcher Langdon Pindell and a walk. Pindell finished 2-for-3 with two RBI to go with his five hits in five innings pitched.

Key was 2-for-3 at the plate, Gatlin Fountain was 2-for-4 and Luke Ensor had a RBI along with one run allowed in one relief inning pitched.

Paris ends 2024 with one more win than a season ago.