WINNSBORO La. — The Ferriday Dixie Belles did it the hard way, but in the end, they were able to defend their state championship.

Ferriday needed to win twice Wednesday night to win their second straight state title, and that’s exactly what they did.

But it wasn’t without some late-game drama.

Ferriday needed to defeat JPRD in the first game in order to play against Grant Parish for the title.

Ferriday went into the bottom of the seventh inning trailing JPRD 4-3, but got runners on second and third base with two outs.

KeKe Collins then laced a line drive to left field that scored the two runs and got Ferriday to the championship game.

Ellen Bairnsfather was the winning pitcher while Savannah Johnston was 2-for-3 in the win.

Ferriday took the momentum from their semifinal win and used it to crush Grant Parish 9-0 in the championship game later Wednesday.

The game was scoreless for the first two innings, but Ferriday scored three runs in the top of the third inning to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Ferriday scored three more runs in the top of the fourth and then tallied single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

They only collected four hits in the game, but were helped out by seven Grant Parish errors.

Ferriday pitchers held Grant Parish to just three hits and the Ferriday defense committed just one error.

Laura Perilloux was the winning pitcher, while Molly Devening was 2-for-3 in the big victory.

Ferriday advances to the Dixie Belles World Series in Sumter, S.C.

The 12-team tournament begins on July 31 and will last six days.