Quitman jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back as it defeated Meridian 11-8 in Friday night prep fast-pitch softball action.

While Meridian never went away and actually cut the lead to 5-4 at one point, Quitman’s bats made sure the Lady Panthers stayed one step ahead throughout the contest despite the Lady Wildcats battling until the last pitch was thrown.

“We played defense pretty well,” Quitman head coach Brian Jordan said. “We struggled at times at the plate and left a lot of runners on base, but we fought the entire game, and we never gave up.”

Meridian head coach Mark Davis said while hits hitters did their job in the batter’s box, fielding miscues — Meridian committed seven errors Friday — gave Quitman too many chances at the plate.

“They played hard, but in the game of softball, if you can’t make the routine play, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing my 4-year-old son’s T-ball team or the New York Yankees,” Davis said. “You have to be able to make the routine play.”

The Lady Panthers scored five runs in the first inning, beginning with an infield single by Lynna Clair Kennedy that sent home Jessie Miller. Lynnzie Kennedy connected on an RBI triple, Cammie Harris had an RBI single and courtesy runner Aaliyah Nixon scored from third when Harris stole second and the Lady Wildcats tried to gun her down. Harris later scored on an error to make it 5-0 Quitman.

In the bottom of the first, Meridian made it 5-1 when Jaliyah Davis scored on a throwing error. The Lady Wildcats scored two more runs in the bottom of the second when courtesy runner Artavious Neal scored on a throwing error and Oaklynne Daughtery came home on a wild pitch.

An inside-the-park home run by AdreOinna Hickman in the bottom of the third made it 5-4 Quitman, but the Lady Panthers extended the lead to 6-4 in the top of the fourth when Shania Johnson came home from third as Meridian tried to throw out Kennedy on a stolen base attempt.

In the top of the fifth, an RBI infield single by Miller made it 7-4 Quitman, but an RBI fielder’s choice by Meridian’s Sharmetricia Young in the bottom of the inning made the score 7-5 Lady Panthers through five.

The Lady Panthers scored three more runs in the top of the sixth inning when Johnson and Kennedy both came home on errors and Nixon was sent home on a sacrifice fly by Faith Allen, making it 10-5 Quitman. In the bottom of the sixth, an RBI single by Naomi Anderson cut Quitman’s lead to 10-6, and Hickman also scored on a wild pitch to bring the Lady Panthers’ lead back down to three.

But Quitman got one more run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Kennedy to score the Lady Panthers’ 11th run, and although Meridian scored on a bases-loaded walk Lexie Moffite in the bottom of the eighth, Quitman was able to close it out and get the win.

Anderson was 2-for-2 for Meridian, and Jada Scarbrough finished 2-for-3. For Quitman, Johnson, Kennedy, Kinley Stewart and Harris all finished 2-for-4. Kennedy’s triple was her team’s only extra-base hit.

Meridian will travel to Southeast Lauderdale Saturday, while Quitman will play at Southeast Lauderdale Monday.