Dana Daigre runs up to make a catch in left-center Wednesday.(The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

Vicksburg High softball coach Josh Harper called Wednesday’s division matchup with Greenville (3-7, 0-3) a practice game.

As it turned out, the Missy Gators (14-5, 3-0) had to fight for their lives.

After scoring five times in the opening inning, the Missy Gators held on to beat Greenville, 6-4, and keep division championship hopes strong.

Vicksburg will meet Warren Central today at 4:30 at Halls Ferry Park. With a win, the Missy Gators will lock up the title and a first-round playoff series at home. A loss would still send them to the playoffs, but a tiebreaker would have to be used to find a champion.

Harper said the division championship and avoiding a long road trip fail in comparison when talking about WC.

“Every time we step on the field against Warren Central we want to win,” Harper said. “I feel like hot coffee and warm pancakes are going through me right now … I just want to beat Warren Central. I don’t care about the division. I don’t care if we have to travel to Bangkok (for the playoffs), we just want to beat Warren Central.

“It’s something our players can say that we beat Warren Central twice in one year and that is something you just don’t do against Coach (Lucy) Young.”

Wednesday, in a game that was rained out Tuesday, VHS looked as if it would roll.

Viola Howard and Dayna Nugent led off with back-to-back singles, then Krystal Lofton belted an RBI double, followed by RBI singles from LaToya Trunell and Kassidy Dollar as the hosts burst out to a 5-0 lead.

Shannon Arnold hit a one-out triple in the top of the second and scored on a Howard single for a 6-0 Vicksburg lead.

Then Greenville took over.

The Missy Gators got just one hit a seventh-inning single the rest of the way. At the same time, the Honey Bees were chipping away at Vicksburg’s lead.

“We wait too long to play,” Greenville coach Minnie Page said. “We get down early, then decide to make a comeback late. We’ve been doing that all year and it’s hard to beat a good team like that.”

Derotha Wallace and LaShay Barksdale each had two hits and a pair of RBIs. The last six batters in the order went a combined 0-19, however.

Greenville threatened in the bottom of the seventh after four straight singles, but three fielder’s choices ended the threat after just one run scored.

“Early it looked like we would roll,” Harper said. “But Greenville woke up and played a tremendous game.”