Cullman’s baseball team started the season with a 10-4 home win against Southside-Gadsden on Monday.

Owen Lovell went 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs, Trent Price added a home run and four RBIs, and the Bearcats tallied 11 strikeouts from their pitching staff in a solid effort.

Noah Fondren (one hit and one RBI), Jacob Heatherly (one RBI), Wheeler Eastman (two hits) and Will Morrison (one hit) all had quality opening days at the plate. Price had two hits.

Morrison garnered the win on the mound, tossing 1 2/3 innings in relief of Heatherly, who got the start. The former allowed four hits and one earned run. He struck out two. Heatherly, meanwhile, surrendered just one hit in 3 1/3 innings of work. The lefty fanned six, walked three and surrendered two earned runs. Kade Williams and Michael Myers closed out the game with an inning apiece.

For coach Brent Patterson, it was a good start to what he hopes is a memorable season.

“We had good at-bats and ran the bases well,” he said. “I think the depth of our lineup was the biggest difference. We came through for some big hits in the bottom of our lineup. I was proud of how we manufactured runs. I liked our pitching as well. It was a good team win.”

% Hanceville 9, J.B. Pennington 5: The Bulldogs took down the Tigers to kick off their spring with a solid win.

Branen Hurst earned the win for Hanceville, scattering four hits, three earned runs and eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Isaac Holmes and Gaiven Cruce each had two hits (Holmes added an RBI), while Kaine Yates (two RBIs) and Josh Loggins (one hit and two RBIs) also pitched in at the plate. Tate Brown (RBI), Dalton Rice (RBI) and Hurst all finished with one hit apiece.

Prep Softball

% Oxford 5, Cullman 3: Sierra Easterwood’s two-run blast and Hannah Morton’s solo home run accounted for the Lady Bearcats’ only two hits during a road loss.

Olivia Schwaiger allowed 10 hits and four earned runs to go along with two strikeouts in a six-inning loss.

Prep Soccer

Cullman’s girls improved to 5-0 this season after defending their Southern Shootout title over the weekend.

The Lady Bearcats took down MGM (3-2), Stanhope Elmore (4-0), Robertsdale (8-0) and Gulf Shores (2-1).

“It’s a great start,” coach Jacob Brown said. “We’re very young. To see them have this success early is a surprise, but it’s very welcome.”