Hixson High School’s senior softball players will one day look back and be proud of some of the things they accomplished during their time with the Lady Wildcats’ program. It may take a while, but it will happen.

After winning the District 6-AA tournament this year for the first time, the only progression Hixson had not made in the last four years was getting to the state tournament. They were denied again Friday, losing 4-2 to DeKalb County on Sarah West’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning.

DeKalb County (27-9) advances to next week’s state tournament in Murfreesboro. The Lady Wildcats, who won four consecutive regular-season district titles and the last two Region 3 championships, end their season 19-5.

“This has been the most fun bunch I think I have ever had,” Hixson coach Janet Tate said. “They had some individuals quit on them early in the season, but they stuck with it. They showed a lot of character on their part. Quitting is easy. Staying with something can be hard to do.

“They didn’t get what they wanted, but sometimes it’s not about ball,” she said of the seniors. “The character that they’ve shown is going to help carry them through life. They’ll do well, whether they’re playing ball or not.”

What will haunt Tate about the game isn’t West’s high-arching blast to straight-away center after Morgan Page had hit a one-out single. Neither is it the far-too-frequent miscommunications on pitch calls between the coach and pitcher Dawon Millwood, nor that the Lady Wildcats put more balls in play and had fewer hits to show for it.

“Two baserunning errors,” Tate said shaking her head. “It should’ve been 4-4.”

One runner was thrown out at third after straying too far on a bunt that was intended to try to score a run on the throw to first, or at least leave runners at third and second for Whitney Galloway. Her line-drive single up the middle in the third could’ve made it 2-0 instead of 1-0. The other came on Brittany Roberts’ RBI single and cut short a rally in the fourth. Add to that Taylor Lanham hitting a triple to lead off the bottom of the first, only to be stranded.

Millwood was perfect through four innings, but Shay Sullivan’s two-run double tied it in the fifth. Millwood’s only walk was that inning, and she finished with a four-hitter with eight strikeouts. Winning pitcher Page had a three-hitter with four walks and three strikeouts.

“Anything can happen in a game,” DeKalb County coach Danny Bond said. “You can play well at the beginning and play bad at the end. We just stayed disciplined. We stayed focused. We kept a level head. We usually have one good inning a game. We had two tonight. Ultimately that gave us enough runs to win.

“Hixson has a good ballclub. They’ve got pitching, defense and hitting. Of course, you’re not going to run into any bad teams at this point. They’re solid. They hit the ball all over the field. Their pitcher did a good job of hitting her spots. We just happened to get a couple of hits at the right times.”

n Goodpasture 3, Chattanooga Christian 0: At Madison in Class AA, pitcher Jennifer Long held Goodpasture in check on four hits through five innings before losing.

The Lady Chargers’ Marie Beaty singled in the top of the sixth and ended up stranded at third. CCS coach Emily Pensinger said getting a 1-0 lead at that point may have made a difference.

“I was real pleased,” Pensinger said. “We had heard that they had really been blowing people away. We knew it was a matter of time before they scored. They really didn’t have any big hits. All they had was singles. Unfortunately for us, they managed to put a few together.”

n Soddy-Daisy 2, Coffee County 0: At Manchester in Class AAA, the 2006 and ’07 champion Lady Trojans earned a return trip to the state tournament when winning pitcher Alesha Buckner worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh.

Buckner allowed two baserunners and none past first base until the final inning. With one out then, she gave up two of the three singles she allowed, then hit a batter. After a force at home, Buckner ended the game with her eighth strikeout.

Alex Everett walked with two out and scored on Ashlee England’s double in the first for Soddy-Daisy. Everett added a two-out RBI single in the sixth.