SPORTS

PALESTINE - Magnet Cove's Mailyn Tanaka hit a two-strike, two-out homerun in the top of the seventh inning to lift the Lady Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Rison Lady Wildcats in the Class 2A quarterfinals last Friday afternoon at Palestine-Wheatley High School.It was a hearbreaking loss for the Lady 'Cats as they came out on the short end of a pitching duel between Rison's Josey Edwards and Magnet Cove's Bella Harville.Tanaka was 0-for-2 in the game when she stepped to the plate with two out in the top of the seventh. She had flied out and struck out in her previous two appearances at the plate, and was working a 2-2 count when she made contact and sent the ball sailing over the left field fence.Rison put itself in position to perhaps tie the game in the bottom of the seventh when freshman Riley Hyatt had a two-out double, and Layne Potter was then intentionally walked to put two aboard. However, a fly ball to right ended the game.The Lady Wildcats led for much of the game. Three consecutive singles from Josey Edwards, Carlese Johnson and MacKenzie King allowed Edwards' courtesy runner, Elissa Summar, to score and give Rison a 1-0 lead.Magnet Cove tied it in the top of the fifth when Kynsli Brashears' led off with a single, and then scored on Izzy Sawyer's one-out double, making it a 1-1.The Lady Wildcats had some other scoring opportunities in the game, but were unable to cash in.In the first inning, Edwards and Johnson had back-to-back singles with two out before a strikeout ended the inning. Haven Simpson then started the second with a lead-off single but could never advance.Both pitchers had some success controling the opposing batting order.Up until Tanaka's dinger with two out in the seventh, Edwards had given up just four singles without a walk, and had struck out two. Magnet Cove's Harville allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out four.The loss brought an end to a turnaround season for the Lady 'Cats, who had won 14 straight and 19 of their…