UPPER SANDUSKY (Crawford County Now) — Mohawk took one step closer to a league title on a sunny, but windy, day here Saturday. The Lady Warriors (20-5, 11-2) took an early 2-0 lead and held off Upper Sandusky (17-6, 9-3) for a 5-2 a Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory.

The win clinched a tie for the N10 championship for the Lady Warriors.

“Upper is a tough place to come and play at. I expected a great game today, and that’s what we got,” Mohawk head coach Mindy Walton said.

“Aubrey (Gottfried) was lights out, and she now holds the record for the most strikeouts in a season (269) in the N10. We’re proud of her.

“She really held their offense down, and I know Upper has good hitters. We saw that with the home run, but she did a great job.”

Gottfried struck out 9 and walked 1 Lady Rams batter in scattering four hits, one of those a bomb to left field by Madison Hart in the fourth inning that Walton mentioned.

“We knew they were going to hit the ball, so I relied on my defense to help me out, Gottfried said. “We got the outs we needed, and our defense didn’t have a single error.”

Giving up the home run and a double to Madison Wengerd in the sixth was all the damage that Upper Sandusky managed.

“I hit my spots pretty good. After that I just shook it off. We know each other very well. I play with Ava Saull for travel ball,” Gottfried said.

Trying to secure the N10 title and preparing to face Arcadia in the Division VII district semifinal Tuesday, this game served as a good springboard.

“I think it sets us up very well for the tournament. Us getting our groove in with hitting and defense really prepares us for that.”

Mohawk scored twice in the first inning as Mallory Brickner walked and Katie Woodland singled her home. Blake Miller drilled a single to left that scored Woodland.

Two more runs in the third came after Gottfried singled, Anna Russell walked followed by Trenna Johnson’s single. Johnson and Brickner each had two hits.

Upper Sandusky head coach Scott Morris also credited Gottfried with a strong performance in the circle.

“I thought our plate approaches, we were trying to do too much,” he said. “(Innings) Five through seven we moved the lineup a little better. Even though we had strikeouts our mental approach was better.

“We didn’t do enough early,” he said.

The Lady Rams got solo runs in the fourth and seventh innings. Carly Boes’ RBI single accounted for the second run.

“We came in talking about scoring early — and we did that,” Walton said. “Getting momentum on our side, and our energy in the dugout was good.”

Walton said she’s not studied Arcadia yet.

“I haven’t really focused on that team. We were looking at getting today. We’ll talk about Arcadia on Monday.”

For the Lady Rams, who got knocked out of the tournament at Clear Fork 8-2 on Wednesday, the season isn’t over.

“Even going into Buckeye (Central) we had four teams pretty much tied for the lead. We played well both days. Making two trips to Clear Fork (rain postponement), it tested our mental fortitude a little bit.

“We have Wynford on Wednesday and Mohawk again on Thursday. It’s still in front of them, with aspirations of a league title.”

Box score

Mohawk                   202 100 0        5       8      0

Upper Sandusky     000 100 1        2       4      3

WP: Aubrey Gottfried (9 SO, 1 W)

LP: Ella Frombaugh (0 SO, 1 W)

HR: (US) Madison Hart (solo, fourth inning).

Triples: None.

Doubles: (US) Madison Wengerd.

Multiple hits: (M) Mallory Brickner, Trenna Johnson.

Records: Mohawk 20-5, 11-2 N10; Upper Sandusky 17-6, 9-3.

Next: Mohawk vs. Arcadia, Division VII district semifinal at Kenton, Tuesday; Wynford at Upper Sandusky, Wednesday.