WINNSBORO, La. — Not many people gave the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Lady Rams much of a chance to keep it close against The Veritas School Saturday morning at the softball MPSA Class A South State Tournament.

The Veritas School went into this second-round game as the District 5-A champion and with an impressive 24-6 record after a 6-1 win over District 6-A No. 3 seed Claiborne Academy on Wednesday.

But WCCA was not intimidated by Veritas or its lofty record. The Lady Rams were there to win and had victory in their grasp a couple of times before taking a tough 6-5 loss in a game that went eight innings.

“We had every opportunity to win that game,” WCCA head coach Ray Olive said. “We had runners in scoring position almost every inning. Every time we took the lead, they either tied it or took the lead.”

The Lady Rams took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Veritas responded with a run in the bottom of the first. The score remained 1-1 until WCCA scored one run in the top of the fourth, only to see Veritas take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

WCCA took the game into extra innings with one run in the top of the sixth inning. The Lady Rams appeared on their way to advancing in the winners’ bracket and pulling off the biggest win of the tournament when they scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Unfortunately, they could not hold on to the lead as Veritas tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and won the game with one run in the bottom of the eighth.

Heather Stutzman led WCCA at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double. Helen Turner went 3-for-3 and Rose Turner was 2-for-4 for Veritas.

“The first game was very emotional. Lots of ups and downs,” Olive said. “The second game, we couldn’t put the first game behind us. We simply gave up.”

The second game Olive was referring to was the Lady Rams’ 8-0 loss to another team from District 5-A, the Benton Academy Lady Raiders, in an elimination game.

WCCA managed just two hits off Benton Academy winning pitcher Nelson (no first name given). Davis went 3-for-4 with a double and Carr also went 3-for-4 for the Lady Raiders.

WCCA, the No. 2 seed out of District 6-A, finished the season with a 13-19 record.