PINEVILLE, La. — Ginny Daggett scattered six hits over seven innings and Kennedy Beard went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run as the Ferriday Gators defeated Madisonville 12-3 Tuesday afternoon to win the Louisiana Dixie Debs State Tournament championship.

The win secured a trip to the Dixie Youth World Series Aug. 3.

After allowing one run in each of the first two innings, Daggett didn’t gave up another run until the sixth inning. She struck out two batters and walked none.

“Ginny threw hard. There were a couple of hard-hit balls that were caught,” Ferriday Gators head coach Rut Horne said. “We didn’t play as well defensively as we had. When Ginny, our normal shortstop, goes on the mound, our centerfielder comes in. Our third baseman goes to shortstop. That’s where some of our errors were made. They all played hard.”

It was the second straight game a pitcher went all seven innings. Mollie Devening went the distance in a 3-0 win over JPRD Monday night.

“I normally don’t let one pitcher go a complete game,” Horne said. “Mollie would have had only three innings left. Ginny would have had only two innings left.”

Ferriday turned a close game into a blowout in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. Beard had the big hit in the bottom of the third with her two-run homer and Jody Duncan’s second double of the game cleared the bases in the bottom of the fourth.

Duncan ended up going 2-for-3 while Marty Lewis and Savannah Johnston both went 2-for-4 and Peyton Monticello had a double.

“Kennedy continues to hit the ball and hit it hard. The team as a whole played well. I’m just proud of them,” Horne said. “People that have watched us play tell me that our speed makes the other teams make mistakes. Teams would make more errors because of our speed.”

This was the first time this team went through a tournament undefeated on its way to winning a state title. It had to go through the losers’ bracket when they played for the Ferriday Dixie Belles team as 13-year-olds and then a year later as 14-year-olds, Horne noted.

“This is the third state championship for these girls. That’s the first time I’ve ever gone undefeated,” Horne said. “I’m real proud of the girls.”

The Ferriday Gators won’t have to travel very far when they play in the Dixie Debs World Series, which will take place in Alexandria, La. Their first game will be against Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 3 at a time to be determined.