GRANT, La. — Timely hitting by Fairview High School and defensive miscues by Monterey High School were the difference in the No. 7 seed Lady Panthers escaping with a 12-8 win over the No. 10 seed Lady Wolves Friday afternoon in the regional round of the 2018 LHSAA Class B Softball State Playoffs.

Monterey scored one run in the top of the first inning and it remained 1-0 until Fairview struck for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Lady Wolves answered with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth to make it a 5-4 game.

Unfortunately, any thoughts of the Lady Wolves pulling off the upset and advancing to the state quarterfinals ended when the Lady Panthers (19-2) scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and five runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 12-4.

“I thought we played hard. We never gave up,” Monterey head coach Cary Shivley said. “We did our job. They got a couple of hits with runners in scoring position.”

The Lady Wolves tried to rally one last time in the top of the seventh inning, but could only manage to cut four runs off Fairview’s lead.

Both teams had plenty of base hits in the game — Monterey with 10 and Fairview with nine — but the Lady Wolves committed three costly errors while the Lady Panthers played error-free defense.

“I thought we played well enough to win today. It just didn’t happen,” Shivley said.

Andy Gray went 2-for-3 and Jessica Woodrum was 2-for-4 with a home run to lead the Lady Wolves at the plate.

Monterey finished with an overall record of 13-9.