ABOVE: North Union sophomore pitcher Ainsley Ulrich winds up against West Hancock on Monday, July 7.

SWEA CITY, Iowa – In high school softball, it is typical for teams to use two or three pitchers who progressively share the workload every season.

Under North Union head coach Kim Price, however, there have only been a handful of girls to carry the torch in the circle over the last several years.

Two players have taken up a majority of the innings for the Warrior pitching staff over the past six seasons. Between 2019 and 2023, current assistant coach Emily Meyer was the main workhorse for Price and her team, accumulating over 750 innings over that stretch.

Since then, it has been sophomore Ainsley Ulrich leading the charge for North Union’s pitching staff.

Ulrich started pitching at the age of 10, influenced by a pair of cousins who were pitchers themselves. She quickly adapted to the position, and after that, there was no turning back.

“(My cousins) taught me a lot,” Ulrich said. “It kind of came naturally to me, so that really helped a lot.”

She continued to be one of the predominant pitchers throughout the rest of her youth career, until eventually joining the North Union varsity team in 2023 as an eighth-grader.

With Meyer still being a senior at the time, Ulrich’s experience as a pitcher dwindled as she mostly played in right field with only a handful of pitching appearances.

Despite having a limited sample, Ulrich showed signs of what could be. In nine innings her eighth-grade season, Ulrich gave up three runs while racking up 13 strikeouts, holding opponents to a .152 batting average.

She then entered the 2024 season as the predominant pitcher at the varsity level.

Ulrich had ups and downs in her freshman campaign while showing flashes of potential throughout the season. She finished the year with an earned run average of 4.69 while striking out 181 batters in 159 innings of work.

The strikeout numbers and inning production were impressive, but Price knew that with a little more consistency, Ulrich could go from good to great.

Fueled by an offseason of constant work and repetition, Ulrich took some time to focus on the mental side of the game.

“Just being composed,” Ulrich said of her biggest offseason improvements. “Through the stressful situations, it has really helped on the mound. You are going to face stressful moments, and I think that has really helped.”

Her improvements have already shown so far this season. Posting a 20-7 record, Ulrich has notched a 2.57 earned run average over nearly 150 innings. She has recorded a career high 194 strikeouts while holding opposing batters to a .225 clip from the plate.

Ulrich took a leap in almost every statistical category from last season. The jump in production might be a shock to others, but Price says Ulrich’s work ethic and dedication make almost anything possible.

“She is such a competitor,” Price said. “She’s such an athlete that anything she does, she excels at. She works hard to improve and is very mentally tough. I think she puts high expectations on herself and does what she can to reach those.”