ALEXANDRIA, La. — Normally, Ferriday Gators head coach Rut Horne only leaves his pitchers in for a few innings.

But starter Laura Perilloux didn’t give Horne a reason to take her out.

Perilloux went all seven innings for the Gators in their 6-2 win against Virginia in the first round of the Dixie Debs World Series Saturday night. Horne said Perilloux’s breaking ball was on point that night, which handcuffed the Virginia batters. Neither of the two runs Virginia scored were earned.

“Her curveball was working,” Horne said. “She struck out six, and every one of them was on the curve. I normally don’t leave (my pitchers) in past three, but she was doing such a great job.”

Perilloux yielded just five hits and issued one walk.

Mollie Devening had a solo home run for the Gators, and Kennedy beard added an inside-the-park home run to cap off a 4-for-4 night. Jody Duncan was also perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3.

“It was probably our worst offensive outing of the year,” Horne said. “The things we normally do well, we didn’t do well. For instance, bunting — we popped up to the catcher seven times, but still managed to come out with a win.”

Horne said the big stage of a World Series berth didn’t seem to affect his players as much.

“I think they were excited, not nervous,” Horne said.

At 8 p.m. today, the Gators will face the winner of the Alexandria-Florida matchup that took place after Ferriday’s game Saturday night. Results of that game were not available at press time.

New Mexico Metro 11, Vidalia 13s and 14s 8

Shauneisha Crumpton’s two-run home run sparked Vidalia 13- and 14-year-old All-Stars’ comeback in the fourth inning, but it wasn’t enough to get the victory as they fell to New Mexico Metro 11-8 in the losers’ bracket Saturday.

Vidalia’s second loss in the Junior Softball Southwestern Regional Tournament eliminated them from postseason play and ended their season.

Vidalia didn’t go down without a fight, as they were trailing New Mexico 6-1 by the third inning before Crumpton stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home run. Her instant offense sparked momentum for Vidalia as they rallied for an 8-6 lead in the fifth inning.

“We had some really bright spots today,” Vidalia 13s and 14s head coach Wesley McCarver said. “The girls did well. (New Mexico) just scored more runs than we did.”

But Vidalia couldn’t stay on top, and the lead slipped away as New Mexico made its own comeback bid to end the game 11-8.

“I’m proud of how far we came and how we played,” McCarver said. “I told them to remember that we’re still the Louisiana state champions.”