Vicksburg High entered Thursday’s game against Warren Central with a leg up in the Division 4-6A championship race and a two-run cushion to work with.

The cushion quickly evaporated, and the Missy Gators’ title hopes soon followed.

Chelsea Worley allowed only three baserunners while throwing a one-hit shutout, Alexis Patterson had two hits and two RBIs, and Warren Central snatched the division championship with a 7-0 rout of Vicksburg at Lucy Young Field.

“This is awesome,” Worley said. “We were pumped up. Coming off the win on Monday (against Terry) we were feeling pretty good and wanted to keep it going.”

Worley was awesome, too. She retired the first nine batters she faced before Blake DeRossette reached on an error to lead off the fourth. Torey Daniels followed with a fielder’s choice but was stranded at third, and Sydney Bufkin led off the fifth with a clean single up the middle to break up the no-hit bid.

Other than that brief hiccup, Worley plowed through the Missy Gators’ lineup. She struck out six batters, walked none and retired the last nine she faced after Bufkin’s base hit.

Worley also helped herself at the plate by going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs. Her two-run single in the bottom of the fifth gave WC (9-4, 3-1 Division 4-6A) a 7-0 lead and put the final nail in the coffin.

“Great job. She pitched a complete game and you can’t ask for better than that,” WC coach Dana McGivney said. “She had a great game at the plate, too.”

Vicksburg (6-8, 2-1), meanwhile, had a miserable one at the plate and in the field. Thanks to its 4-2 victory over Warren Central on March 17, it didn’t have to win on Thursday, just lose by two runs or less. Two errors in the first two innings allowed runners to circle the bases and wiped out that cushion in the blink of an eye.

After Lawren Boolos scored from first on a stolen base and throwing error, Worley singled and eventually scored on Patterson’s base hit to give WC a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Vikes added two more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Patterson and an RBI double by Katie Busby, then put it away with Worley’s big hit in the fifth.

“A lack of hitting and we made some errors early that gave them momentum,” Vicksburg coach Amanda Yocum said. “I said last time that they’re a good hitting team and to beat them you have to hit with them. We didn’t do that.”

Despite the loss, Vicksburg will still finish second in the three-team division and advance to the playoffs. That, along with her team’s effort Thursday, was some consolation to Yocum.

“I’m very proud of our kids and the character they displayed. They could have given up, or let a lot of things get to them tonight and they didn’t,” Yocum said.