HIGH-TEN — North Union hitter Shallie Walders (right) receives a double high-five from Warriors’ head coach Kim Price after slugging a two-run home run during the bottom of the first inning against Western Christian during the two softball teams’ Iowa Class 2A, Region 1 semifinal game Friday night in Swea City. North Union went on to post an 8-0 triumph. (Photo by Greg Abel)

SWEA CITY — Iowa Class 2A, No. 10-ranked North Union displayed its power from both the batter’s box and the pitcher’s circle during Friday night’s Region 1 semifinal softball showdown in Swea City.

Ace senior hurler Emily Meyer notched a game-best 15 strikeouts without issuing a walk to engineer firing a three-hit complete-game shutout to guide the Warriors to an 8-0 triumph over the Hull Western Christian Wolfpack.

Meyer, eighth-grade phenom Shallie Walders and senior slugger Olivia Von Bank each belted home runs to muscle North Union (22-6) into Monday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game.

The Warriors will await the winner of tonight’s rescheduled 7 p.m. Region 1 semifinal clash between No. 6-ranked West Monona (27-6) and unranked Akron-Westfield (16-10). The game was delayed 24 hours due to heavy rainfall on Friday.

“I really don’t want to wait that long to find out who we play next, but I guess I’ll have to now,” a grinning North Union head coach Kim Price said in reference to the postponed postseason game in Onawa.

If West Monona defeats Akron-Westfield tonight, North Union will make the 172-mile drive to Onawa on Monday night for the right to advance to the Class 2A state tournament.

If Akron-Westfield upends West Monona, North Union will play host to the Westerners at 7 p.m. Monday night in the regional finals in Swea City.

“It was a night of big numbers for us,” said Price. “Emily needed 13 strikeouts to reach the 1,000 mark for her (high school) pitching career and accomplished that.”

Meyer also moved into the No. 2 spot in seasonal strikeouts in Class 2A with 249, trailing only Missouri Valley sophomore Audrie Kohl’s 284. The North Union hard-throwing right-hander also netted her 21st victory of the summer to claim the No. 2 spot in wins in Class 2A behind Kohl’s 25.

While Meyer kept the Wolfpack off the scoreboard by scattering three hits and piling up 15 strikeouts, Shelby Fraker utilized her speed and Walders capitalized on her bat speed and power to stake the Warriors to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Friday night.

Fraker drew a one-out walk, swiped second base, motored to third on Von Bank’s groundout and crossed the plate when Meyer’s hard grounder went through the Western Christian third baseman’s wickets for an error and an early 1-0 lead.

Harley Tobin, Meyer’s courtesy runner, then scored when Walders hammered her third HR of the summer over the fence in left-center to widen the gap to 3-0.

“I had a vision. I felt like we’d hit two over tonight, but we improved on that by connecting for three,” said Price, whose powerful batting order moved into a tie for third with Osage for the most team HRs in Class 2A at 23.

“To have an eighth-grader in Shallie step up and come through with a clutch home run to get our offense going tonight was incredible,” said Price. “If it was the final home game for our seniors, it was nice to see Emily (Meyer) and Olivia (Von Bank) go deep in their last games in Swea City.”

Meyer drilled her team-best 10th HR of the season — a solo shot — on the heels of Von Bank’s sacrifice fly during the Warriors’ two-run fifth inning to build a 7-0 lead. With one powerful swing, Meyer moved into a three-way tie for the No. 2 spot in seasonal HRs in Class 2A.

Von Bank delivered the final round-tripper of the playoff clash, belting a solo HR to deep left field in the sixth to cap the eight-run performance. It was Von Bank’s fifth blast to complement 29 RBIs to trail only Meyer’s team-leading 31.

Walders, who co-led North Union with Brylie Deim by generating two hits apiece, doubled to set up the Warriors’ two-run fourth at-bat. Ainsley Ulrich and Deim delivered back-to-back singles before Walders scored on a wild pitch and Ainsley Ulrich crossed the plate on Ella Ulrich’s RBI sacrifice bunt.

Jocelyn Oostenink went 2-for-3 to top Western Christian (11-12), while Macy Westra chipped in a seventh-inning single.

Wolfpack starter Jaelyn De Jong combined to walk two and allowed four runs — only one earned — in a total of 2 2/3 innings pitched. De Jong pitched through the North Union lineup once as a starter before replacing reliever Breya Van Kley in the bottom of the sixth.

WC   000 000 0 — 0 3 4

NU    300 221 X — 8 7 2

Jaelyn De Jong (LP), Breya Van Kley (2), Jaelyn De Jong (6) and Macy Westra. Emily Meyer (WP — 21-6) and Shelby Fraker.

LOB–North Union 5; Western Christian 5. 2B–Shallie Walders (NU). HR–Shallie Walders (NU), Emily Meyer (NU) and Olivia Von Bank (NU). SF–Olivia Von Bank (NU). SAC–Ella Ulrich (NU).