FLORENCE — West Point knew it wouldn’t be easy — and easy, it wasn’t.

Although the No. 7 Lady Warriors found themselves just three outs away from earning a state berth on Thursday, they weren’t exactly in the most enviable of positions late in their win-or-go-home matchup against eighth-ranked Ardmore in the Class 5A North Regional Tournament at Coffee O’Neal Park.

It started out innocently enough.

With her team nursing a 4-3 lead, Carlie Wilkins came out for the seventh inning looking to keep the drama to a minimum.

Unfortunately for the Maroon and White, though, the Lady Tigers had much different plans.

Three straight singles loaded the bases with nobody out, and Ardmore suddenly had all the momentum.

Following a quick mound visit, the onus was back on Wilkins to get West Point through its biggest jam of the season.

“I knew at that point I just needed to calm down,” she said of the situation. “It would be OK if they tied it up, because I have confidence in our lineup. But for me, it was just go after them one batter at a time. That worked out super good.”

Indeed it did — with a little help from left fielder Macie Brown.

The freshman hauled in a lazy fly ball for the first out of the frame before hurling an on-target seed to catcher Brindlee Phillips, who then applied the tag on the Ardmore runner attempting to score from third base.

Suddenly, there were two outs and a whole lot less worry.

“That was the best possible thing that could have happened,” Wilkins said. “It took all the pressure off me and the team. It just caused our momentum to skyrocket and changed the whole tune of the inning. Once they loaded the bases, I think we were all kind of nervous and tense. But once we got two outs … we were like, ‘We’ve got this.’”

Added Brown: “I was a little nervous, but once I had it I knew I had to go straight to Brindlee. After that, it was all excitement. I knew we could finish it out. Even if it wasn’t me, that play really boosted our confidence.”

Four pitches later, Wilkins coaxed a pop fly that landed squarely in the glove of first baseman Kylee Quinn.

Just like that, the Lady Warriors had punched their ticket to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

West Point 4, Ardmore 3. The celebration was on.

“It was just like, ‘Wow, we made it,’” Wilkins said. “This is what we talked about all year, and it’s the goal we set for ourselves. We’re all so happy it happened.”

Ardmore grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Bethany Minck’s leadoff home run in the bottom half quickly tied things up.

“I think it set the tone,” Minck said. “It helped a lot, too, because I was the one who struck out last game to end it. But I knew that I had to get on with it.”

Sidney Burks’ RBI single later in the frame made it 2-1, and a throwing error by Ardmore on the same play allowed both her and Brown to cross home plate and put West Point ahead 4-1.

Ardmore added runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to draw to within one, but it wasn’t enough.

The Maroon and White will open the state tournament — held at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park — next Wednesday with a 10:45 a.m. clash against top-ranked Alexandria.

West Point (30-14) fell to Hayden 2-1 in the winners’ bracket final earlier in the day before bouncing back with a clutch victory over Ardmore.

See complete capsules from Thursday’s games below.

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Hayden 2, West Point 1

Macie Brown: 2 hits

Carlie Wilkins: 2 hits

Sidney Burks: hit

Kylee Quinn: hit

Brindlee Phillips: hit

Carlie Wilkins: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 7 K

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West Point 4, Ardmore 3

Bethany Minck: 2 hits (HR), RBI

Sidney Burks: 2 hits, RBI

Carlie Wilkins: 2 hits

Braelee Quinn: hit

Macie Brown: hit

Carlie Wilkins: 7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, K