Staff photo / Brian Yauger Mathews senior Becca Landis eyes home plate as she leads off at third base during Mathews’ 13-0 win over Badger on Monday in a Division IV district semifinal.

BAZETTA — From the opening pitch this season, Mathews softball has been in the driver’s seat. In each of the last eight games, the Mustangs have tallied 10 or more runs.

That streak was extended to nine on Monday as Mathews powered its way past Badger, 13-0, in a Division IV district semifinal.

For Mustangs coach Jim Nicula, however, the best part of the win is getting to spend another day with his team.

“The best part of this is we get to practice tomorrow and play another day,” Nicula said. “That’s always the goal, to win. Regardless of how, who or what, we get to practice and we get to play again and I get to stay with these kids, which I love, so that’s awesome.”

Despite the Mustangs’ perfect record in league play this season, the team knew not to underestimate anyone.

“We knew that we had to come in and earn it,” Mathews junior Emma Gates said. “We weren’t going to get anything based off any previous games. I’m really proud of the team. We all contributed up and down the lineup offensively. Defensively, when we needed to make the plays, everyone contributed. It was just awesome. We’re super excited to keep moving forward and we’re not going to stop.”

Gates finished the evening with one hit, a home run. Becca Landis was in the circle, striking out 10.

The next stop on the Mustangs’ push for a district title is against Brookfield. Mathews met up with Brookfield in 2019 beating them in the district semifinals. The Warriors took down Lisbon in their semifinal matchup to reach this contest.

Mathews is running a similar lineup to the last time the teams met, as the Mustangs played with a sophomore-heavy lineup back in 2019. In Nicula’s 10 seasons at the helm, Mathews has reached this stage seven times.

“We always want to play in that game and we’ve been fortunate to win six out of those seven times,” Nicula said. “That’s the goal. Get to regionals and then go on to the next step.”

First pitch against Brookfield is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Candlelight Knolls.