Cullman's girls get a bit excited after claiming the program's first area tourney title since 2010 Thursday night. 

Class 6A, Area 15 has an indisputably clear softball champion.

Like undefeated area record clear.

Cullman took its first steps toward a second straight deep playoff run Thursday night at home, clipping Hartselle 3-1 and 4-1 for the program’s first area tournament title since 2010. The crown not only gave the 10th-ranked Lady Bearcats (31-16) a more favorable draw at next week’s North Regional Tournament but capped off an entire spring of area domination.

Nine games. Nine wins. And by a combined score of 75-5 to boot.

Not too shabby.

Fourth-year coach Stephanie Conner will certainly take it.

“This is something we’ve strove for since I got here, when they were all freshman and eighth-graders,” she said. “This is something that was our goal, so that’s awesome that it finally came to fruition. This will be the legacy that they leave.”

Elli Dixon, one of the squad’s four seniors, didn’t bother trying to contain her excitement.

“It’s awesome, especially against Hartselle,” the UAB signee said. “Everyone was all there, whether they were playing or not. Everybody was behind each other.”

After taking awhile to warm up in the semis, Cullman wasted no time hopping on Hartselle in the championship. The ‘Cats batted around and scored all four runs in the first on hits from Hannah Morton, Dixon and Olivia Schwaiger.

Morton’s was a two-run single not long after Claire Jenkins led off with a base knock and Sierra Easterwood walked.

Dixon added a double in the third, and Kennedy Wren rocked a one-out single in the fourth to round out Cullman’s offense.

“Normally we have a lot of long balls, but with the wind, we didn’t have that many,” Conner said. “But the great thing about them is they made it happen, they came through at the end and got the solid hits that we needed.”

Hartselle scratched across its lone run off Schwaiger on back-to-back third-inning doubles by Sara Faulk and Kaitlyn Spangler and a sacrifice fly from Mary Jane Wooley.

Schwaiger only gave up one hit — a triple to Kalli Cartee — the rest of the game and officially started the celebration with her one and only K.

The junior took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the first game before allowing a one-out double to Gracie Poe. Kennadi Hogan plated Poe with a single the ensuing at-bat, but Schwaiger buckled back down for the last two outs, both sharp grounders to Morton at third.

Schwaiger struck out five in the complete game two-hitter.

Easterwood led off the bottom of the fourth with her first of two singles and eventually scored on a McKensi Burks RBI single. Tiffani Schwaiger then took advantage of a dropped foul ball that would’ve been the third out, drilling a two-out single for Cullman’s other two runs.

Jenkins laid out for a beauty of a dive at shortstop to end the top of the third.

The Bearcats move on to face Brewer Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the Sportsplex in Huntsville. Only two teams from each regional will advance to the state tournament May 19-20 in Montgomery.

Cullman plans on being one of them.

“We want to be a staple at state,” Conner said. “We started that last year and we’re going to keep that going this year.”

A fourth-place finish in 6A a spring ago was a nice start, but Dixon can’t think of a better than going out as No. 1.

“We left something that we didn’t finish, and we need to finish it this year,” she said.