But a little misfortune Thursday night finally put an end to Gatesville’s dream season.

Needville’s Shauni Prihoda hit a hard chopper that glanced off shortstop Kylie Nichols’ glove and rolled to the left-field wall for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Lady Jays went on to edge the Lady Hornets 2-1 in a University Interscholastic League Class 3A softball state semifinal at Texas’ McCombs Field.

“It’s hard,” fifth-year Gatesville coach Michelle Bartch said, trying to hold back tears. “But that’s sports. That’s softball. You have your senior, clutch player trying to make a great hustle play. It’s just how it goes sometimes . . . we could look at a bunch of things we didn’t do.

“This was just an overwhelming experience. Nobody expected us to be here after district but the girls found what it takes.”

The Lady Hornets, who had won just one playoff round in school history before this year began, concluded their record season at 32-10. Junior Emily Leib (23-9) allowed only two hits and one earned run.

Nichols scored the only run to tie the game in the fifth, and she and Megan Chartier had the only hits off Cally Falls (30-7).

“Us girls, some of us have been together for four years and going from our freshman year never even going to the playoffs to obviously making it to the state tournament is a pretty big accomplishment,” four-year starter Nichols said. “I’m very proud of my teammates. They’ve come a long way.”

The game was tied at 1 in the sixth when No. 9 hitter Prihoda led off the inning with a hard grounder in the hole that seemed like a harmless single to left. The slick-fielding Nichols ranged to her right, trying to make a great stop.

Instead, the ball went off her glove and its momentum carried it all the way to the left-field corner before Cassie Morphet could retrieve it.

“I tried. It just didn’t go in my glove,” Cisco Junior College signee Nichols said. “It hit the tip of my glove and missed it by about that much (holding her fingers about two inches apart). (There was) really nothing we could do after that.”

Nichols dropped Morphet’s relay throw, allowing Prihoda, who likely would have scored anyway, to give Needville a 2-1 lead.

“I thought the ball was going to be caught by the shortstop or the third baseman and the left fielder is doing what she’s supposed to do,” said Lady Jays coach C.J. Mazac, whose 34-8 team advanced to Saturday’s 2 p.m. championship against the winner of this morning’s semifinal between Celina and Longview Spring Hill.

“The ball just took a wicked spin hop. It’s just one of those things that you can beat yourself up about all day long but it’s just one of those things that happens that you can’t do anything about.”

Gatesville fell behind 1-0 in the first when Becca Rademacher singled and went to second on third baseman Randi Smith’s throwing error on the play. Alyssa Rodriguez put down a sacrifice bunt and Leib’s throw to first was wild, allowing Rademacher to race home.

The Lady Hornets’ defense rebounded to keep them in the game. In the third, Leib’s diving effort to catch a bunt attempt failed but catcher Amber Colson threw to Nichols at second for a forceout. In the fourth, Colson connected with Nichols again at second to thwart a stolen-base attempt.

With Gatesville still down 1-0 in the third, Chartier laid down a bunt for a single, with pitcher Falls fielding the ball and throwing it into left. The speedy Chartier raced around second and third, but she was tagged out at home trying to tie the game.

“You have the fastest kid in the area, the fastest kid on our team who is just dynamite,” Bartch said. “On third base we’re trying to draw the throw and you have a kid that you have two outs on you and probably in her mind she’s going to be aggressive and that’s what we love about her. She’s either a hero in that scenario or she gets out in that scenario.”

In the fifth, Gatesville drew even when Nichols scooted up in the box to poke a two-strike pitch to right for a single. She moved to second on Morphet’s bunt and headed for third. Second baseman Rodriguez’s throw to third was errant and Nichols scored to tie it at 1.

“Everybody was excited,” Nichols said. “I told them it was a new ballgame, just like 0-0.”

Until Prihoda’s inside-the-park homer off the tip of Nichols’ glove broke the Lady Hornets’ hearts one inning later.

Reflecting on Gatesville’s improbable season, Bartch summed it up best: “This was incredible. We made history.”

cmeister@temple-telegram.com