PINEVILLE, La. — The Ferriday Gators Ponytail team jumped out on top early and used a strong pitching performance from Karlee Woodruff to defeat Pine Prairie 5-2 and advance to the championship game of the state tournament.

Woodruff pitched a complete game one-hitter in picking up the victory for the Gators.

“Karlee had a really strong performance on the mound,” Ferriday coach Tommy Milligan said. “She was throwing strikes, and when (Pine Prairie batters) put it in play, we made the play. Our infield played a great game defensively.”

Ferriday will play JPRD tonight for the state championship. The Gators have one loss in the tournament while JPRD is undefeated, so Ferriday must defeat JPRD twice in order to take home the title.

The first game begins at 6 p.m.

Ferriday got things going early against Pine Prairie with three runs in the top of the first inning.

“We’ve been starting a little slow in this tournament, so it was nice today for us to come out strong early,” Milligan said. “Everybody came out hitting in the first inning and we were able to get a good lead.”

Milligan said scoring early runs is important because of the calming affect it can have on a team.

“It relaxes everyone,” Milligan said. “When our pitchers are relaxed, they can pitch their game. When we’re ahead, they get more relaxed. They get in a groove and everything seems to flow a lot better for us.”

Paige Bryan led Ferriday at the plate with a double while McKenzie Milligan and Makenzie Watts both went 2-for-2 in the winning effort.

Baylor Smith, Taylor Rogers and Macee Crouch also had hits for Ferriday in the victory.