The West Harrison Lady Hurricanes beat the Brookhaven Lady Panthers 7-4 Monday night in the opening game of the Class 5A quarterfinals at the Brookhaven softball complex.

“I am proud of the girls for fighting hard,” said BHS coach Mandy Vinson. “I asked them to play a full seven innings and they did that. Now, we must regroup quickly and correct our mistakes as we prepare to play them over there. Tomorrow is a different game. I also like to thank the fans for coming. It was a big momentum boost for our girls.”

The Lady Panthers (21-7) will resume action today when they travel to West Harrison to battle the Lady Hurricanes in the second game and third game, if needed. Action begins at 5:30 p.m.

Lady Hurricanes 7, Lady Panthers 4 

The Lady Hurricanes came out strong in the first two innings and quickly capitalized on a few miscues by Brookhaven to secure a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Panthers cut into West Harrison’s lead after scoring one run.

The Lady Hurricanes would get that run back in the top of the third inning to take a 6-1 advantage.

In the last four innings, the Lady Panthers rallied back to outscore the Lady Hurricanes 3-1, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Hurricanes escaped with the win.

Katherine Shell suffered the setback on the rubber for the Lady Panthers with two strikeouts and one walk.

Stephanie Necaise was the winning pitcher for the Lady Hurricanes with two strikeouts and no walks. Anna Necaise (1K, 0BB) earned the save in the seventh inning in relief.

Shell directed the Lady Panthers with a two-run homerun in the sixth inning. Cheyenne Motley contributed a triple. Tia Bussey provided two singles. Hitting safely were Macy Ziskin, Rileigh Allen and Madison Thompson.

Lauren Jackson was the top hitter for the Lady Hurricanes with a double and a single. Rebecca Cuevas and Bailey Street finished with two singles each. Kristen Sexton and Sydney-Brooke Sims had a double each. Jada Walker hit a single.