HUNTSVILLE — Athens’ bats were hot from the first pitch at the North Regional softball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Kiwanis Sportsplex.

Olivia Patton hit a solo home run in the top of the first and Hannah Morris knocked a 3-run homer out of the park in the third inning as Athens went on to beat Austin 15-3 in the opening game of the 6A tournament.

“We expected to win. I don’t know if we expected to have that many runs. We knew we were going to come out hard,” said Morris after the game. “It’s really big to get (momentum). Especially our team, we really feed off momentum.”

The Golden Eagles needed just five innings to beat the No. 8 team in the state, enacting the 10-run rule which applies when a team is winning by at least 10 runs after five innings. It was the second time this season for Athens to hit multiple home runs in a game.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone. I was like, ‘There goes number seven,’” Patton said about her seventh home run of the season. “As soon as somebody hits it, everybody starts hitting it. We build off of each other.”

The early home runs allowed Athens to take a 7-1 lead after three innings. Playing with a big lead, the Golden Eagles forced three errors in the fourth inning that allowed four more runs to cross the plate for Athens.

Leading 11-2 in the fifth, Kaitlyn Scruggs and Victoria Patterson drove in two runs each to give Athens a 15-2 lead. Mary Anderson and Patton began the inning with back-to-back singles and Sarah Green walked to load the bases for Scruggs.

Needing just three outs to end the game, Athens limited Austin to a single run and the game ended on a ground out. Morris earned the pitching win for Athens, limiting Austin to four hits and three runs.

“It takes all the stress away,” Morris said about pitching with a big lead. “It’s awesome. You don’t have to worry.”

Athens advanced to play Cullman in the winner’s bracket semifinals Thursday night