The Northmor softball team was operating on all cylinders Monday when they opened the Division III tournament at home against Northridge.

After neither team was able to generate any offense in the first inning, Northmor scored in each of the next five innings, ending the game with a run in the bottom of the sixth to close out a 10-0 win.

During the game, the Golden Knights picked up 12 hits, while pitcher Shelby Cooper shut down the Viking offense, only scattering five hits in pitching a shutout.

“We did a lot of things,” said head coach Matt Wiseman. “It starts with our pitching. Shelby was on top of it today. She pounded the strike zone. She had 10 strikeouts in six innings, so she was on her game tonight. She pitched well and, defensively, we did a lot of nice things behind her.”

Cooper was never really in trouble in the game. Northridge cracked a double in the third inning and had runners on first and second in the sixth, but both instances were with two outs and she was able to record the third without giving up any runs.

Things were different when Northmor was at the plate. Raelynn Fulk opened the second inning with a single and a Mahaila Strobel cracked a double to put runners on second and third. With one out, Lexi See hit a ground ball, but an attempt to get the out at home led to a run-scoring error. Katalina Roseberry then executed a sacrifice bunt to bring a second run across to stake the Golden Knights to an early lead.

They would extend their advantage in the third inning. Kallie Wright fouled off a bunch of pitches on her way to turning a lengthy at bat into a walk and Cooper followed with a single to put two on. With one out and the runners up to second and third, a Fulk line drive was dropped to score one run before the out was recorded at first. Strobel then hit a two-out ground ball that looked to be a routine out, but the Northridge first baseman was straddling the bag, allowing Strobel to be safe at first and another run to cross the plate.

Wiseman felt his players took good approaches at the plate against Northridge.

“We had a couple girls who really fouled off a ton of pitches,” he said. “Kallie had a 10 or 15 pitch at bat one time and one of the See girls had another one that was pretty deep. Katalina Roseberry had a really nice game at the plate with a couple sacrifice bunts, but she had a nice approach as well. Obviously, (Madison) Simpson does what Simpson does — she gets hits.”

Simpson got a big hit in the fourth inning. After Roseberry drew a one-out walk, Simpson smashed a home run to put Northmor in front 6-0. The team would then get a double by Wright followed by back-to-back two-out RBI hits from Kate Kissling and Fulk to make it an eight-run differential.

Roseberry would drive in a run with a sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning and Strobel would finish the game with a run-scoring sixth inning single to send Northmor to the second round, where they were set to travel to Grove City Christian Wednesday.

“That’s the importance of getting that home game in the first round,” said Wiseman of his team’s performance. “It kind of lets us settle in in front of our fans. We have a big challenge on Wednesday with Grove City Christian. They have a really good record. Probably not as difficult of a schedule as what we played in the KMAC, but they won 20 games, so it will be a challenge.”

Wiseman noted that playing in the KMAC has been a big help in preparing his team for the tough opposition they could potentially face in the tournament.

“This league is a meat-grinder, so we feel like we’re prepared and we’re going to make a little run and hopefully, we’ll take it one game at a time and hopefully, we’ll get to see Cardington again in the district finals,” he said.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS