Van's Jailey Potter and Maylan Hale. (Brandon Ogden/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

LINDALE — A six-run first inning helped propel Van to a 9-0 win over Lindale in a battle of District 15-4A unbeatens on Friday night.

“(The start was) very big,” Van head softball coach Baleigh Reynolds said. “It helped the girls feel a weight lifted off of their shoulder. That way they can make an error and it be ok, and that way we can make the next play and move on.”

After Emerson Swoape and Mahayla McKinney drew walks to start the game, Maylan Hale hit a three-run home run to immediately give the Lady Vandals a 3-0 lead.

“It felt great,” Hale said. “I wasn’t really aiming for a home run. I was just trying to get a base hit and score the runs, and it worked out in my favor.”

Van ended up sending 11 batters to the plate in the inning. Tatum Horton drove in a run and then Swoape made it 6-0 with a two-run double with two outs.

“It definitely helped our momentum to score early in the game,” Jailey Potter said. “Us scoring first, we always play better defense.”

Potter tossed a three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and no walks.

“My plan was just go right at them,” Potter said. “Let them put the ball in play and let our defense work.”

“She hit 90 percent of her spots,” said Hale, Potter’s battery mate. “She was doing great and kept them off-balance.”

In the top of the second inning, Potter helped her own cause with a solo home run.

The Lady Vandals added a run in the fifth inning as Lanna Tschirhart tripled and scored on a Horton groundball and in the seventh on an RBI single by CharLee Carr, who had two hits in the game.

Hale also had two hits.

It was the second win of the week for Van (14-5, 4-0), which took a 3-2 walk-off win in eight innings over 2024 state semifinalist Canton on Tuesday.

“I think beating Canton really gave us a lot of confidence and showed us that we can do more than what we think we can do,” Hale said.

“This is what we thought was going to be our hardest week with Canton and Lindale,” Reynolds said. “They came out and showed out in the first inning, and that kind of helped the momentum throughout the whole game.”

MaKynli Zemer, Emma Watkins and Morgan Keenright had the hits for Lindale (12-6-1, 3-1).

Van will host Kemp on Tuesday, and Lindale will host Athens on March 21.