Arkansas High made quick work in its first home opener.
The Lady Backs blanked Maud after a 10-run third inning to go on to victory in four innings, 16-0.
"It was a good home opener," Arkansas High head softball coach Elizabeth Tankersly said. "I don't think we've done that in several years. Your first game at home there's usually a lot of jitters and we addressed that with the team before the game."
Kaitlyn Fortenberry received the win in the circle for AHS. Fortenberry went 3 innings and struck out seven, gave up no runs and no hits.
"Kaitlyn's future is really bright," Tankersly said. "She put in a lot of work in the offseason and worked on what she struggled with last season. She's grown mentally and emotionally. Those were two biggest things that held her back last year and it's only going to get better with age."
Sydnee Blackwell, Jordan Standley and Adison Wright were drove in off a Shelby Robinson single along with two Lady Cardinal errors in the first.
Bailey Easterling drove in Alyssa Smith and Standley drove in Fortenberry with Blackwell in the bottom of the second.
Standley went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI for AHS, while Wright collected three hits and scored twice.
Smith went 2 for 2 for Arkansas High and also scored twice in the rout.
The Lady Backs were also aggressive on the base path, which led to their insurmountable lead in the third inning.
"We've done more hands on things with our base running this season," Tankersley said. "I've been preaching about our base running since I got here but I finally have the right combination of good athletes and aggressive kids. Being smart and aggressive goes a long ways."
All of the Lady Backs' hitters scored in the third inning.
Arkansas High (6-6) opens conference Thursday, hosting Lake Hamilton at 5:00 p.m., at Lady Razorback Field.
"I hope this win will take the jitters away," Tankersly said. "Lake Hamilton is a good team and they're solid all the way around. I think we can hang with them step for step as long as we take things one play at a time and not try to do so much."
Maud=000===-=0=0=3
Arkansas High=33(10)===-=16=13=0
Kaitlin Conway, Haley Yates (2), Conway (3) and Brianna Barnette. Kaitlyn Fortenberry and Kailey Burns. WP-Fortenberry. LP-Conway.