UPPER SANDUSKY (Crawford County Now) — Mohawk may not have been in the driver’s seat at the beginning of the game against Upper Sandusky.

But after they tied it, the Warriors set the tone for the remainder of the game, scoring an additional two runs and shutting out the Rams the rest of the way.

Mohawk took the wheel and drove Upper Sandusky out of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title race by defeating the Warriors 3-1 on Tuesday at Upper Sandusky.

“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) scored 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 with two outs in the top of the second. Lilly Parsell had a sacrifice bunt that plated Blake Miller, to tie the score at 1-1.

Katie Woodland sailed a triple to right field, inches from the fence, which chased in Emily Brickner in the top of the third, to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.

The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning when Kaci Steyer grounded out to the shortstop, driving Woodland home.

The two teams had played each other Monday night at Warrior Field, where the Warriors won 14-6. In the N10, league games are scheduled on back-to-back days.

“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 finish the N10 schedule Wynford (8-11, 5-8) on Friday before playing against Ontario (18-6) on Saturday in preparation for their tournament game.

Throughout the season, the Warriors have seen several records broken, including Aubrey Gottfried, who recently set an N10 record for career pitching wins with 61.

“When Emily and Mallory Brickner, along with Aubrey and Katie all came in as freshman, 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, Mohawk looks to the Brickners, as well as Gottfried and Woodland for leadership.

“It’s exciting to see them taking the freshmen 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 of Gottfried.. “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 walking four. Kenslee 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) on Wednesday and Bucyrus (5-14, 3-9) on Saturday before starting its tournament run. Walton also scheduled Elmwood (19-6) as their last non-conference game, set for Friday. The Royals recently won their third straight Blanchard Valley Conference Championship.

“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.”

Box score

Mohawk                   011 001 0         3       8       1

Upper Sandusky    100 000 0         1     10       0

WP: Aubrey Gottfried (8 SO, 4 W)

LP: Kenslee Swavel (7 SO, 0 W)

HR: None.

Triples: (M) Katie Woodland.

Doubles: (M) Katie Woodland.

Multiple hits: (M) Katie Woodland, Blake Miller, Kaci Steyer; (US) Maddie Wengerd, Madison Hart, Ava Saull, Adilyn Hessey.

Records: Mohawk 19-3, 11-1 N10; Upper Sandusky 18-5, 11-2 N10.

Next: Carey at Mohawk, Wednesday; Upper Sandusky at Wynford, Friday.