The Vicksburg Missy Gators needed a lopsided win over Warren Central on Wednesday to claim the Region 6-6A championship.

They had to settle for a thrilling one.

The Missy Gators scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead, then held off a last-ditch rally by WC to earn a wild 7-6 victory over the Lady Vikes. Victoria Lewis had two hits for Vicksburg, including the final go-ahead single in the seventh inning, while Sydney Bufkin went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and two runs scored.

“You can’t ask for a better game than what happened tonight. Two teams playing their hardest and it went to the end,” Vicksburg coach Michelle Fisackerly said.

Despite the loss, Warren Central (6-9, 1-1) won the region championship by virtue of a 12-2 victory over Vicksburg in their first meeting of the season. VHS (7-8, 1-1) needed to win by 10 or more runs Wednesday to have a shot.

Since WC and Vicksburg are the only teams in Region 6-6A, however, they both advanced to the playoffs. They’ll face either

Meridian or Northwest Rankin in a best-of-three first round series on Oct. 5.

“The goal is always to win, but we’ll take that. We’re still not satisfied, but we’ll take first in the division,” WC coach Dana McGivney said.

Wednesday’s game was a low-scoring affair until the fifth inning, when Lea Davies’ two-run triple gave the Missy Gators a 4-1 lead. Warren Central tied it in the bottom half with an RBI single from Hannah Krapac and a two-run single by Alexis Patterson.

After that offensive explosion, the fun — and the drama — really got started.

Katie Channell drove a one-out triple to the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth, and Krista Cortezie followed with an RBI single to score courtesy runner Brooke Patterson and give the Lady Vikes a 5-4 lead.

Brooke McGrew led off the Vicksburg seventh with a walk and gave way to pinch-runner Grace Bufkin. Two batters later, Bufkin went to third on Sydney Bufkin’s single and an error, but was caught just off third. WC left fielder Lexi Burleigh chased Grace Bufkin all the way to the plate, but waited too long to throw the ball, allowing her to slide into home with the tying run.

“I didn’t know the girl (Burleigh) was behind me,” said Fisackerly, who was coaching third base. “There was really no choice, but to send her. A little luck never hurts.”

Sydney Bufkin eventually scored on Lewis’ single and Faith Thomas added another RBI single to give VHS a 7-5 lead.

Krapac, who was 2-for-4, got the Lady Vikes back within a run with her second RBI single of the game in the bottom of the seventh. She moved up to second base on an error, but was erased on a fielder’s choice for the second out. Karley Hinson then flied to left for the final out.

“It wasn’t the last couple innings, it was the fact we didn’t hit well in the first couple innings,” McGivney said in assessing where the game slipped away from her squad. “You have to hit for seven innings, and we didn’t.”