The Troy Darlings’ run at a district championship came to an end with a 13-1 loss to Geneva in Thursday’s championship game, but the second place finish secured the team a bid in the state tournament.

Geneva scored a run in every inning but one, and Troy struggled on offense.

“We were out of pitching tonight,” said Troy head coach Neal Armstrong. “We had four girls in foreign spots and I’ll take the blame for that. I am not going to blame it on that because we only scored one run.”

Troy had a total of five base runners and their single run didn’t come until the bottom half of the fourth inning.

“We didn’t hit the ball at all,” Armstrong said. “Softball and baseball are fickle sports sometimes. Hitting can be contagious and not hitting can be contagious. Tonight our non-hitting became contagious.”

Even though the results didn’t show it, Troy did put the bat on the ball. Geneva players were in the right spot at the right time.

“We had some very hard hit ground balls,” Armstrong said. “They were able to secure them and get outs of it. That’s big. You have to tip your hat to Geneva they have a really good squad.”

Alyssa Barron, Clara Chandler, Reagan Alberson, Aderian Greenwood, Abby Barron and Addison Armstrong all reached base for Troy.

Armstrong said he is still pleased with the team.

“The Troy rec league is longer than most recreation leagues,” Armstrong said. “We didn’t pick this team until a week after the rec league season was over. We have had eight practices and we played in a warm up tournament. These girls are still learning each other. They have come a long way in just a few short practices and games where as these girls have been playing together since March.”

Troy will have another few weeks to get to know one another. With the second place finish, Troy has advanced to the state tournament in Scottsboro on July 8.

“We need to get our bats going again,” Armstrong said. “When we are really hitting the ball we are really tough to beat.