Franklinton sophomore Baylee Mixon stepped up and gave her club a chance, as the Lady Demons nearly pulled off the upset, falling 2-1 to host DeRidder in the bi-district round of the Class 4A playoffs Monday.

Mixon was replacing an injured Darrien Dykes, who was hit on her non-throwing elbow by an errant throw during warm-ups.

Mixon pitched the entire game, allowing no earned runs on six hits with two walks. At the plate, she singled in Alex Williams for the team’s only run.

Lady Demons’ coach Leslie McGhee, whose 28th seeded club finishes with a 14-17 record, said Mixon stepped up.

“She hasn’t really pitched a lot of games,” McGhee said. “She was nervous. They didn’t really hit her and when they did, it went right to us. She was hitting spots. She was confident and she just stepped up and did what she needed to do. She did her job.”

Mixon held fifth seeded DeRidder scoreless through four innings before allowing two unearned run in the fifth.

Franklinton tallied in the sixth on Mixon’s RBI single. Haley Sanford recorded the Lady Demons’ only other hit, while Jordan Ignacek and Brittney Burch both drew a walk.

Coach McGhee was proud of her team’s effort.

“I don’t think DeRidder thought we’d put that much into it,” McGhee said.

“The whole demeanor of the team changed last Wednesday when they realized we had a chance for the playoffs. Things just didn’t fall our way. We changed some things. It seems like every playoff year, we get a little closer. We lost last year 2-0 last year and 5-2 the year before.”

Franklinton had three playing seniors in Burch, Williams and Khristian Capo. The Lady Demons also had two senior managers in Johnna Hartzog and Jaslyn Tate.