ALEXANDRIA, La. — After a 6-2 loss to Alexandria in the Dixie Debs World Series championship game, disappointment was difficult to find in the faces of the Ferriday Gators players.

Though they may have finished as World Series runners up, the girls were all smiles and cheers exiting the field Thursday evening.

“We’ve had the best seasons that this group has ever had, so we were just really happy to be here,” outfielder Laura Perilloux said. “We decided before we came into this game that we weren’t going to let it get to us if something happened. We were just going to have fun.”

For players like Perilloux and Kimble Devening, this year marked their final year of eligibility to play Dixie softball — and play as a member of Gators coach Rut Horne’s team.

“During school ball, I thought it was our last game, so it was good to play for him and all of the team for one more year,” said Devening, who graduated from Cathedral High School this past spring. “We’re all really good friends.”

The Gators fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning when starter Ginny Daggett issued a bases-loaded walk to Alexandria’s Kimber Gruehl, scoring Alexes Sepulvado. A sacrifice fly by Bailey DeBona sent home Madeline Poole, but Daggett was able to escape from the inning with limited damage.

“In the first inning, we were a little sluggish, maybe a little apprehensive,” Horne said. “After that, we settled down. They’re a good hitting team, there’s no doubt about it.”

The Gators got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first when a double by Kennedy Beard sent home Ellen Bairnsfather.

Neither team scored in the second inning, but Alexandria extended its lead 4-1 in the top of the third with a two-run home run by Kayla Busby.

The Gators had the chance to cut the lead in half again in the bottom half of the frame, but Bairnsfather was thrown out at home on a controversial call after Daggett hit a double to right field.

“She swears that the girl didn’t tag her at home, but the umpire saw it differently,” Horne said, smiling. “But we had other opportunities, you have to give Alexandria credit. They’re a good team.”

A solo shot by Sepulvado extended Alexandria’s lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth. The Gators scored their other run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Marty Lewis singled her in.

In the top of the seventh, Alexandria scored it’s final run when Gruehl came home on a sacrifice fly by Busby. An exciting moment for the Gators came when they turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

“You don’t see many of those, and this was against a quality team, too,” Horne said.

Daggett pitched all seven innings for Ferriday to take the loss. She gave up six earned runs on 10 hits with six walks and two strikeouts.

“Ginny Daggett did a heck of a job,” Horne said. “You’re not going to get many strikeouts against Alexandria. If you can hold them to six runs, you’ve done a pretty good job.”

Bairnsfather finished the game 3-for-4 as the Gators’ only multiple hitter.

Lewis, who currently plays for Trinity Episcopal Day School, said she was grateful for the opportunity to play on the Gators’ squad. While most of the girls had been playing together for several years, Lewis was the team’s lone rookie.

“It was very fun and surprising, because we didn’t think we were going to make it all the way here,” Lewis said. “Playing with an older age group (was the difference).”

It wasn’t Horne’s first trip to the World Series championship round as he led a younger team to the finals in 2002, also finishing as runners up. But he said it was difficult to compare that team to this one.

“I’ve had some of these girls from 10 years old,” Horne said. “They play hard. They’re a special group. Everyone wants to compare them to the group before — but they’re different. They’re both special in their own ways.”

Now that her youth ball career is over, Perilloux said she was glad she came back to Horne’s team after a hiatus of several years.

“I’m glad I got to come back this last year,” she said. “He was the first person to ever work with me, and I know I was awful then, and he believed in me. When I play for him, I feel like I play my best, because I feel like he believes in me.”

The Gators were the only team to score any runs against Alexandria in the World Series, scoring once in an 11-1 loss Sunday and twice in Thursday’s game.