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Warriors wake up late, down Eagles in playoffs

ABOVE: North Union softball pitcher Ainsley Ulrich prepares to pitch against West Hancock Monday in round one of the Class A, Region 7 playoffs.

SWEA CITY – The North Union Warriors clinched the first win of their playoff journey Monday night with an 8-0 victory over the West Hancock Eagles in the Class A, Region 7 Softball Tournament.

The Warriors scored eight runs in the final two innings of the contest to put the six-inning mercy rule in effect.

The Warriors (21-7) will take on the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans in the next round of playoffs at 7 p.m. Wednesday back in Swea City.

Through the first four innings of Monday’s contest, the North Union offensive attack struggled to get any sort of momentum on the base paths. Warrior head coach Kim Price said one of the reasons for the lack of run production was due to impatient at bats from her players.

A handful of times, Price saw batters remain too aggressive, causing different forms of weak contact that led to easy outs for the Eagles.

When her offense did make hard contact, however, none of the hits ended up in the gaps or caused significant damage. Price credited the West Hancock defense with a handful of spectacular plays to keep the ball in front of them.

“I think we had several hits that didn’t fall,” Price said. “They made some really good plays in the outfield. At that point, I think their defense just had the momentum. They were able to get outs, and we weren’t scoring.”

Heading into the bottom of the fifth, Price’s message to her team was to remain calm and confident. She knew it was only a matter of time before her offense finally got some momentum despite the score of the game.

“I just said, ‘It’s going to come,'” Price said. “We have to just keep hitting the ball hard and go up there with the same attitude because it’s going to happen. Whether it’s this inning or next inning, we are going to get it.”

North Union used an array of hits, bunts and stolen bases to scratch a pair of runs across the plate with one out on the board.

The Warriors continued the inning by staying aggressive and taking advantage of miscues from the West Hancock defense. After loading the bases, junior center fielder Brylie Deim hit her first home run of the season to put the finishing touches on the frame.

“One thing our girls do a good job of is not letting the pressure in those moments get to them,” Price said. “Because it was a high-pressure situation, every person who came up to bat had an opportunity to score runs. We were able to execute on those, whether it was a bunt or a hit.”

Keeping the Warriors in the game was none other than sophomore pitcher Ainsley Ulrich. Even with her team not giving her the run support early, Ulrich remained aggressive in the circle.

Ulrich pounded the strike zone throughout her outing, constantly forcing the Eagles hitters to play at her speed. She finished the evening with six innings of scoreless softball, striking out eight batters and allowing three hits.

“Tonight, I would say Ainsley did better at getting ahead in the count,” Price said. “Sometimes she throws one or two balls to start, forcing her to work back instead of working ahead. Even when she did get two or three balls, she was able to come back with the pitch.”

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