Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Mabank High School softball seniors Baylee Sales (left) and Hailey Ledbetter gather before their last home game April 14, a win over Quinlan Ford.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Mabank third baseman Presley Green tags out a Quinlan Ford runner in the first inning of the Lady Panthers’ April 14 victory.

MABANK–The Mabank Lady Panthers continued their march toward an undefeated softball district championship April 14 with an 8-1 win over Quinlan Ford, then honored departing seniors Baylee Sales and Hailey Ledbetter following the victory.
Mabank broke open the game with two runs in the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth. The Lady Panthers started scoring in the first inning when Presley Green hit a two-out double to bring home Kai Hudson.
Mabank added two more runs in the third, beginning with a Dustie Mauldin double. Hudson walked, then Chloe Holland’s sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position. Another sacrifice bunt by Sales scored Mauldin for Mabank’s second run.
In the fifth, Sales hit a bases-empty home run to left field to increase the Lady Panther lead to 3-0. Green singled, then Skyler Pruitt tripled home Mabank’s fourth run. Quinlan Ford pushed across a run in the top of the sixth inning to get within 4-1.
Mabank answered in the bottom of the sixth with their biggest inning. Holland singled in Taylor Harris and Keylee Lane to widen the Lady Panther advantage to 6-1. A Hudson RBI single made it 7-1, Mabank. Ledbetter singled to center field to bring home Mabank’s eighth run.
In the final inning, Lady Panther pitcher Sales coaxed a hard grounder to shortstop Holland, who tagged out the passing Quinlan Ford runner to end the game.