The Woodland Christian softball team remained undefeated in Sierra Delta League play Thursday evening following a quick 15-0 win over Highlands.

The Cardinals (9-1, 4-0 SDL) came into the league matchup in scolding form, having won nine of their opening 10 games so far, including a perfect 4-0 in the league.

Massive SDL wins so far include 14-1 and 14-0 home and away wins over Vacaville Christian on March 11 and March 19 and a 20-1 road win over Highlands on March 18. Non-league wins include a 24-3 win over Buckingham Charter in their season opener, a close 14-12 win over Fairfield on March 5, a 13-1 win over Winters on March 7, and a 10-1 win over Corning on March 8.

Their only recorded loss so far is an 11-1 loss to Colusa during a March 8 tournament.

“Just staying focused, from offense to defense, and just not letting up and continuing to do the little things right is the hardest part of these games,” Cardinals coach Christie Miller said. “We haven’t seen too many games yet to get a good feel for all of the little things right now. Our toughest game was Colusa against a very dominant pitcher, but it was early in the season, and we weren’t quite ready for her. We are looking to go deep into the playoffs, and that’s our end goal, so we want to be prepared for that competition we expect to see.”

Before Thursday’s offensive outburst, Idaho State University commit Adison Huiskens led the way for the Cardinal with a team-high 19 runs scored to go with 12 hits and 14 RBI. Senior Morgan Sanders led the team with 17 RBIs, with 14 runs scored and 12 hits. Junior Maggie Wurzel led the team with 15 hits, with 12 runs and 16 RBI.

Sophomores Chayse Anderson and Ariana Perez made their mark in the early part of the season by collecting 8 runs, 12 hits, and 11 RBI and 15 runs, 9 hits, and 8 RBI, respectively.

Senior catcher and University of Tennessee at Martin commit Teagan Hayes is still rounding into form after a long postseason basketball run, where she helped lead the Cardinals to not only a regional title but the D5 CIF State Championship as well.

“I’m very happy with what we look like,” Miller said. “We just gained Teagan and Keziah this week, our state basketball champs, so it’s nice to have our full 12. I’m looking forward to hitting the field and practicing with our full team.”

Highlands (1-6, 0-4 SDL) came in on a tough time, with their only win so far being a 25-11 win over Encina on Feb. 28.

The Cardinals raced out to five runs in the bottom of the first.

In the bottom of the second, a Hayes infield single scored Reese Hutchins to make it 6-0. With the bases loaded, Anderson took one for the team and was hit by a pitch, which brought in Wurzel to make it 7-0. Junior Kylee Bihlman was then plunked, which brought home Sanders to make it 8-0.

After a final flawless top of the third inning from Wurzel, the Cardinals matched the output of the second inning with another 3 runs in the bottom of the third to make it 11-0 and active the 10-run mercy rule.

Wurzel, who started the game from the circle for the Cardinals, finished the game with 3 innings thrown while striking out 5 batters.

In the top of the fourth, with the game’s result clearly set, freshman Kaylee Michel got some action in at pitcher. She’d finish the game’s final two innings, allowing 1 hit, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals added four more runs for good measure. Fresh off her own postseason basketball run, Maldonado-Lemus would draw a walk with the bases loaded to bring home a run and make it 12-0. Huiskens would then bring in Bihlman to make it 13-0 before a single from Sanders to bring home Trejo made it 14-0.

Maldonado-Lemus then went full circle, scoring the game’s final run after Hayes walked her in with the bases loaded.

Next for the Cardinals will be a Tuesday, March 25 home SDL matchup against Rio Vista, set for 5:30 p.m.