On a day of upsets in the Class 4A State Softball Tournament, Norwalk once again fell victim to the North Scott Lady Lancers. The second-ranked Warriors committed untimely errors and left the bases loaded three times in Monday’s 7-1 state quarterfinal loss at Fort Dodge, heard live on 94.3 KNIA and the KNIA3 stream.

North Scott plated three unearned runs in the top of the first and added a four-run fourth to go up 7-0. The 10th-ranked Lady Lancers defeated Norwalk at State for the third consecutive year and were one of three lower-seeded teams to win in the 4A quarterfinals. The Warriors scored their only run on Nyah Hulbert’s 18th home run of the season leading off the seventh inning. They stranded 12 runners in the game, leaving the bases full in the second, third and seventh frames.

Norwalk coach Beau Livingston tells KNIA Sports that it’s important to have a good start and play clean at the state tournament, two things the Warriors were unable to do on Monday. Livingston credited North Scott for executing better with runners on base and getting some key hits early, adding that it is sometimes advantageous to be the road team at State.

“You almost wish you were the visitor when you come here, so when you strike first then it does strike some nerves,” he said. “We go to the bottom of the first and we’re used to generating runs early, specifically the first inning, and when that didn’t happen I think we got a little nervous. We kind of worked our way through it, but just couldn’t find that hit to really get us back into it.”

North Scott pitcher Chevelle Kingsley, who shut out Norwalk in last year’s state quarterfinals, nearly repeated the feat. Kingsley allowed nine hits, walked three and struck out eight, using a nice mix of her riseball and changeup. Carly Brewer took the loss for Norwalk, allowing 11 hits but only two earned runs. She walked one and struck out five.

Maddie Gullion went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead Norwalk. Hulbert and Bailey Birmingham both had two-hit games. Aubrey Toohey had three hits for North Scott while Adalyn Johnson and Kamilah Eller both had an RBI double and two hits each. The Lady Lancers took advantage of four Norwalk errors and two run-scoring wild pitches.

The Warriors return to Fort Dodge this morning to face Western Dubuque in a 4A consolation game at 10:30. Pregame coverage on 94.3 KNIA and kniakrls.com (KNIA3) will start at about 10:15.