Austin Delp retired the first 16 batters he faced, and Alta Aurelia used some timely hitting to defeat North Union 5-1 in a 2A District Final Saturday night in Emmetsburg.

With 1 out and the game scoreless in the bottom of the third, Jaden Holton was hit by a pitch, and then a Jalen Henningsen double put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Neil Marshall followed with a 2 RBI single, and after Marshall stole 2nd, AJ Lange delivered a single which plated Marshall to put the Warriors up 3-0. 

Alta Aurelia scored again in the 4th, as with 2 outs, James Curbow was hit by a pitch.  Curbow then stole 2nd, and Holton's RBI single made it a 4-0 game.

Delp was perfect into the 6th inning, until he walked Brandon Kollasch with 1 out.  Following a strikeout, an error, another walk, and an RBI single by Sawyer Doocy made it a 4-1 game.  However, with the bases loaded, Delp got an inning-ending groudout to stop the bleeding. 

The Warriors got that run back in the bottom of the 6th, as Zach Sleifert scored on a wild pitch.  North Union put two runners on with 1 out in the 7th, but a popout and a flyout wrapped it up.

Delp went the distance, as he pitched a 3 hitter, with 2 walks, and had 8 strikeouts.  Doocy, North Union's ace, took the loss, going 5 and 1/3 innings, as the Warriors collected their 6 hits against him.  Doocy struck out 5, walked 3, and hit 2 batters, both of which came around to score.

North Union's season ends at 26-7.

Alta Aurelia is now 22-10, and they will play Hull Western Christian, in a Substate Final re-match from last year, Tuesday night in Spencer.  HWC beat Boyden Hull-Rock Valley 4-3 in their District Final.  Tuesday's game will be broadcast on The Moose 92.9 KKIA, and streamed here on stormlakeradio.com. 

Postgame comments from Alta Aurelia Coach Dan Wendel can be found in the Coach's Corner here on our sports page.