The Vicksburg Express’ first trip to the Governor’s Cup ended with a loss, and only one win in four games.

Even so, they were smiling when it was over. That one win was close enough to sniff a championship.

The Express lost both of their pool play games, but beat undefeated Cudas Baseball in the elimination round to reach the 8-year-olds’ championship game. There, they took a four-inning run rule loss to D5 Baseball, 14-6.

It was just the third tournament for the Express, however, so getting a chance to play for the title trumped any difficulties they might have had in getting there.

“It was a good weekend. They played well when they had to. They seem to start slow in the morning, but they picked it up in the afternoon,” Express coach Michael Brown said.

Cudas had scored 31 runs in its two pool play games — 15 of them in a 15-7 rout of the Express.

The Express won the rematch, though, 9-7 in the semifinals.

The momentum ran out in the championship game. After taking a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the third inning, the Express gave up seven runs to D5 Baseball in that half and two more in the fourth.

Still, Brown was happy with the improvement his team has shown since forming a month ago.

“I’ve got a lot better ballclub than when I first got them,” Brown said. “We couldn’t hit, we couldn’t throw, we couldn’t make plays. Now they’re catching the ball, they can throw guys out. From where they were to now, it’s a lot of improvement.”