ABOVE: North Union's Madison Bunkofske fields the ball in Wednesday night's Class A, Region 7 playoff game.

SWEA CITY, Iowa – In the second round of the Class A, Region 7 Softball Tournament, the North Union Warriors took down Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire High School 10-3 on Wednesday night.

Sophomore Ainsley Ulrich powered the Warriors from the circle and in the batter’s box, tossing a complete game while driving in three runs at the plate.

North Union (22-7) advances to the third round of the tournament with the win and will match up with St. Edmond (22-10) on Friday. This contest will be held at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge, Iowa, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

The tone of Wednesday’s matchup was set by Ulrich in the circle. Despite facing some trouble on the basepaths at the top of the first frame, the sophomore was able to power through the Titan offensive attack. Ulrich tallied up three quick strikeouts in her first two innings of work to give her offense a chance.

She continued her dominance at the plate in the bottom of the second. After scoring a run on a passed ball, Ulrich knocked a single that would bring in a runner from second, extending the Warrior lead.

But the Titans weren’t going down without a fight.

In the next inning, GTRA used aggressive baseball to score its first run of the game, placing back to back bunts and putting the first dent on Ulrich.

However, North Union continued to stay aggressive on offense. The Warriors answered back with three runs of their own, capping off the rally with yet another Ulrich base knock.

“Ainsley has been our leadoff hitter for the whole season for a reason,” North Union head coach Kim Price said. “There is no doubt in my mind that she is the person to do that. She has a great on-base percentage and doesn’t allow that pressure to ever get to her. If she struggles or pops up, the next at-bat, I’m not worried about her ability to come through.”

While unable to click entirely against the Titans, North Union’s offensive attack executed in all other aspects. Drawing walks, stealing bases and laying down bunts, the Warriors caused all sorts of chaos on the basepaths for the Titan defense.

“We talk about knowing that if we are not getting hit, after hit, after hit, we still have to do anything we can besides that to get runs,” Price said. “Making sure we are doing our best to be aggressive on the bases, stealing bases, and not being hesitant.”

GTRA was able to respond yet again in the top of the fifth. Using quick contact and speed to their advantage, the Titans tallied on a pair of runs, making it a two score game with a few innings to play.

However, that ended up being the last runs GTRA scored.

North Union put the nail in the coffin over the next three frames. After scoring five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, Ulrich shut the door on any hopes of a Titan comeback, tossing two consecutive frames and recording yet another complete game.

“Ainsley did an amazing job again,” Price said. “She has really just been locked in and focused on not walking girls, so that’s been really good to see the last couple of games.”