Warren Central was looking for a solid outing and a confidence boost in Thursday’s regular-season finale.

It didn’t get either.

The Lady Vikes committed five errors that led to seven unearned runs, and lost 12-6 to Franklin County at Lucy Young Field.

The loss finishes WC’s regular season at 14-10. They’ll have a week off before facing second-ranked DeSoto Central (23-3-2) in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs on April 30 and will need the time to regroup and regain their momentum.

WC coach Dana McGivney planned to give her struggling team a couple of days off before coming back Monday to start prepping for DeSoto Central.

“We’ll go to work on our focus. We have got to get our focus back,” McGivney said.

The Lady Vikes lost despite getting a pair of solo, inside-the-park home runs from Chelsea Worley and Chasity Hearn. The third inning home run by Hearn, which went right down the line in left and rolled to the fence, was her third of the season and cut Franklin County’s lead to 4-2.

WC’s defense, however, fell apart in the fifth inning. A dropped fly ball in right center led to two runs and a high throw from third base led to two more as Franklin County extended its lead to 9-2.

An RBI double by Morgan Knapp, the only extra base hit of the game for the Lady Dogs, made it 10-2 in the sixth inning. Franklin County added two more runs in the seventh in large part to WC’s fifth and final error of the game on a booted ball at second base.

“Errors, errors, they will just kill you. That was it,” McGivney said.

Franklin County played flawlessly in the field until the seventh inning, when a pair of air-mailed throws allowed WC to score three unearned runs with two outs. Krista Cortezie, Sydnei Smith and Blair Thornton all scored on the play to account for the 12-6 final.

“Worst play we have had in 21 games this season,” Franklin County coach Dana Smith said. “Usually we play really well on defense. K.C. (Smith) played well at short tonight.”

Franklin County (18-3) has lost only once this season to a Mississippi team. Its other two losses came to Houma and Fairview, La., in the Alexandria, La., Tournament. This also was the club’s second straight win in Vicksburg this week, following Monday’s 11-3 rout of St. Aloysius.

“We’ve been through here a lot this week,” Smith said with a laugh.

Hearn and Cortezie had two hits each to pace WC.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com