Emily Meyer

SWEA CITY — Perfect pitching and potent power.

Ace right-hander Emily Meyer hurled a rare perfect game to complement going 3-for-3 offensively with a home run and a double to engineer the Iowa Class 2A No. 7-ranked North Union Warriors’ 11-0, five-inning softball triumph over the North Iowa Bison on Wednesday night.

Meyer recorded her first-ever five-inning perfect game — not allowing a run or any batter to reach base via a hit, walk, error or hit-by-pitch.

“I’ve learned to just focus on each inning and just pitch my game and not think too much about shutouts, no-hitters or perfect games,” said Meyer.

After recording two of her game-best eight strikeouts during a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, Meyer and eighth-grade teammate Shallie Walders supplied instant offense from the batter’s box during the home half.

Beth Streuber set the high-octane tempo by drilling a leadoff double off the fence in Swea City before circling the bases on Shelby Fraker’s RBI single.

After North Iowa executed a double play, Meyer kept the inning alive by clouting a solo HR over the center-field fence for a 2-0 lead.

“When I hit it, I sprinted to first base because I didn’t think it was going to carry, but it just kept going and went out,” Meyer said in reference to her sixth HR of the summer.

Ainsley Ulrich reached on an error before Walders drilled a two-run HR over the left-field fence to double the Warriors’ lead to 4-0. The round-tripper was the first of Walders’ varsity career, with her second coming only two innings later.

Walders went 3-for-3 with game-leading totals of two HRs, four RBIs and three runs scored.

North Union added solo runs in both the second and third at-bats before erupting for five more in the fourth.

Olivia Price walked, gained second base on Streuber’s sacrifice bunt, reached third on Fraker’s infield hit and scored on Olivia Von Bank’s RBI fielder’s choice in the second. Walders then smacked a leadoff HR to account for North Union’s only run in the third.

Ironically, Von Bank’s single with two out in the fourth triggered the Warriors’ five-run, six-hit outburst. Meyer doubled home Von Bank before courtesy runner Brylie Deim crossed the plate on Ainsley Ulrich’s RBI double.

Walders lined a run-scoring single, Ella Ulrich legged out a hit and Kyla Irmiter drilled a two-run single to extend the Warriors’ lead to 11-0.

Meyer proved efficient in her deliveries during a 1-2-3 top of the fifth by getting three Bison groundouts to seal her perfect game.

North Union (13-3) travels to Forest City, Iowa, on Friday night for a 6 p.m. clash.

N.Iowa        000 00 — 0 0 2

N.Union      411 5x — 11 13 0

Jaycee Plath (LP) and Ashlyn Bechler. Emily Meyer (WP) and Shelby Fraker.

LOB–North Union 4; North Iowa 0. 2B–Beth Streuber (NU), Emily Meyer (NU), Ainsley Ulrich (NU). HR–Shallie Walders (NU) 2, Emily Meyer (NU) 1.