A pair of home runs from senior studs Adison Huiskens and Teagan Hayes highlighted the Woodland Christian softball team’s Senior Day, as they wrapped up Sierra Delta League play with an undefeated record and championship following an emphatic 13-0 win over Mesa Verde Wednesday night.

The Cardinals (19-3, 14-0 SDL) wrapped up sole possession of the league title, finishing two games up on the second-placed Lindhurst, a team they beat 10-0 and 14-2 back in early April. They’ll have two final tune-up matches next week before playoff seeding, matchups, and locations are announced the weekend of May 10-11.

“I’m excited for the playoffs, but I don’t want to look past next week’s games in terms of where we can land in the rankings,” Cardinals head coach Christine Miller said. “We want to come out on top on Tuesday. “

Before the game, the school took time to honor the five seniors on the Cardinals, including Huiskens, Hayes, Lileana Trejo, Morgan Sanders, and Keziah Maldonado-Lemus.

“It’s nice to have a night that is dedicated to the seniors for all of the hard work and commitment they have put into the team,” Miller said. “We have big shoes to fill next year, but we are very excited for the future and being able to watch Teagan and Adi playing at the next level.”

“We are all kinda like sisters,” Sanders said. “I have been playing ball with Teagan and Adi since I was 4. This was Keziah’s first year playing, but I feel like she really connected with us. Lileana has been playing all four years as well, and I feel like we have become really close friends.

“It felt incredible to win today. We have all been putting in hard work, so to see the results tonight was really nice, especially on a night dedicated to us.”

The Cardinals got to work quickly by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the first, 2 in the bottom of the second, and a back-breaking, game-ending 8 runs in the bottom of the fourth to activate the 10-run mercy rule and get outta’ there early.

A bit of fortune allowed the Cardinals to go up 3-0 after a pop fly from Kylee Bihlman somehow found the ground, and allowed sophomore Ariana Perez, Hayes and junior Maggie Wurzel to score.

In the bottom of the second, another bloop single from Sanders just evaded the reach of the Mesa Verde second basemen’s glove, allowing freshman Kaylee Michel and Maldonado-Lemus to score and make it 5-0.

The game really broke open in the fourth inning courtesy of the aforementioned home runs from Hayes and Huiskens.

Hayes went first, firing off a two-run bomb to dead center, scoring Huiskens to make it 7-0. Bihlman would later knock in Sanders to make it 8-0, before a Perez double scored Trejo and Bihlman to make it 10-0.

After Michel reached base safely, Huiskens came back up for her second at bat of the inning and crushed a three-run shot to right field, giving the Cardinals the eventual 13-0 win, sending everyone in attendance home happy.

Up next for the Cardinals will be two more tune-up games to prepare for the playoffs against Ben Holt Collegiate Academy, which will be set for Tuesday at home, before the season finale on the road against Colusa, which will be set for Thursday.

“I think we are pretty ready, and I’m so excited for the playoffs,” Sanders said. “I’m really excited to see some good competition and want to end my senior year well, playing good teams and hopefully beating them.”