Warriors sweep Rams, in prime position for another N10 title

UPPER SANDUSKY – Mohawk may not have been in the driver's seat at the beginning of the game against Upper Sandusky. After it tied the game, the Warriors set the tone for the remainder of the game, scoring an additional two runs and stopping the Rams from scoring any farther.Mohawk took the wheel and drove the Rams out of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title race by defeating them 3-1 on Tuesday."It's a task in itself to beat a great team one time," Warriors coach Mindy Walton said. "It's more of an extremely difficult task to beat a team two nights in a row."Upper Sandusky (18-5, 11-2) had the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on an Ava Saull single, which drove in Madison Wengerd."I'm sad for the seniors, who really wanted to win this," Rams coach Scott Morris said. "We showed up ready to play today and I am proud of them."Mohawk (19-3, 11-1) answered back with two outs in the top of the second. Lilly Parsell had a sacrifice bunt to Kenslee Swavel that plated in Blake Miller, making it 1-1.Katie Woodland sailed a triple out to right field, two inches from the fence, which chased in Emily Brickner in the top of the third, making it 2-1.The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning when Kaci Steyer whacked a ground ball to the shortstop and made it two outs. Woodland scored though on the grounder.USHS and Mohawk played each other Monday night at Warrior Field, where the Warriors won 14-6. In the N10, games with teams are scheduled back-to-back."We align with baseball and their schedule," Morris said. "The biggest thing we have learned is that it changes in a heartbeat and we have been on the other side of it. One time it can drop one day and then the next it goes to someone else. It's all about preparation and that's something that we can control, along with the effort."The Rams have to play Wynford (8-11, 5-8) on Friday before playing against Ontario (18-6) on Saturday to prepare for tournament.Throughout the season, the Warriors have seen their fair share of records broken, including Aubrey Gottfried, who recently set a new N10 record for career pitching wins with 61 prior to the game on Tuesday."When Emily and Mallory Brickner, along with Aubrey and Katie all came in as freshmen, you just knew they were special kids," Walton said. "They have gotten better each year and have exceeded my expectations every time."With no seniors on the roster for Mohawk, it looks to the Brickners, as well as Gottfried and Woodland for leadership."It's exciting to see them taking the freshman under their wing," Walton said. "They are showing them the ropes and what it means to be a Warrior softball player. I'm extremely proud of them."While there were a couple of innings that the Rams had bases loaded, they couldn't capitalize on those, and that challenged Gottfried to get the Warriors out of the jam."Aubrey gets us out of tough situations, and that's just the person she is," Walton said. "She constantly plays softball, so her mental approach to the game is just to keep moving onto the next. It's extremely hard to do as a player but as a pitcher, I think it speaks volumes as to what kind of player she is, along with the type of person she is." Gottfried allowed one run on 11 hits, while fanning eight and had four walks. Swavel allowed three runs on seven hits with seven punchouts and no walks.Mohawk still has two league games to play this week: Carey (11-11, 4-7) today and Bucyrus (5-14, 3-9) on Saturday before starting its tournament run."I love the momentum we have right now going into the rest of the week," Walton said. "I love our energy right now. We might make a defensive error but we move right past it and attack the next one. We are attacking the batter's box, and we are attacking throughout the lineup. It's exciting to see at this point in the season."