WOODLAND — The East Union Lancers softball team fell 8-2 on Tuesday in game that was a much closer than the score indicates at Pioneer, ending a fantastic run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs.

The 6-seeded Lancers (17-14) earned a semifinal berth after an opening round win over Wood of Vacaville, before upsetting No. 3 Yuba City 9-8 last Friday. A vaunted Valley Oak League schedule saw the Lancers finish fifth but left them battle tested for a deep run in the postseason.

“Unfortunately, the ball didn’t bounce our way today,” East Union coach Dylan DeBrouwer said. “It’s a bummer, because everyone in that dugout wanted to see this run continue it just wasn’t in the cards today.”

Senior pitcher Mikayla Simpson held the 2-seed Patriots’ powerful offensive attack to no runs. She retired the side in order in the first before working around a couple of hits and an error in the second to keep the game scoreless.

“I can’t say enough about what Mikayla has meant to this program,” DeBrouwer said. “She was a catalyst for this run, and her leadership has been instrumental in even giving us an opportunity in a game like today.”

The Lancers truck first in the top of the third. After her one-out single, Savanna Lopez stole second base before advancing to third on a sacrifice fly to right from Simpson. Senior second baseman Leah Altstadt then battled in a tough at-bat before lining a base hit down the left field line to put the Lancers up.

Altstadt then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Junior Lily Pickering then hit her second of three base hits in the game to center field, and with two-outs Altstadt was given the green light rounding third base but was thrown out on a near perfect play by Pioneer center fielder Abril Parker to end the threat for East Union.

Simpson found trouble in the bottom of the third when she walked the lead-off batter Gracie McGinty. McGinty was then sacrificed over to second leaving an open base for Pioneer standout shortstop and Stanford-commit Marisa Bryson. DeBrouwer opted to walk the junior who came into the game with 10 home runs on the season, and instead pitched to Sofia Hernandez. Hernandez, who is committed to play softball next season at Cornell University, made the Lancers pay by lining a single to left, scoring McGinty and Bryson who had stolen second earlier in the at-bat to put the Patriots up 2-1. Three pitches later Caitlin Mayfield hit a 1-2 pitch from Simpson deep to left for a two-run home run to make it 4-1 in the blink of an eye.

“We’ll be thinking about a couple of plays in that inning for a while,” DeBrouwer said. “A call here or there or a bounce goes our way, and we get out of there limiting the damage.”

Down 4-1 in the fourth inning, DeBrouwer turned to Pickering to keep the Lancers in the game in relief. Pickering did just that, limiting the Pioneers to just two earned runs on four hits while striking out four.

“I knew there was a good chance I was going to get the ball at some point today,” Pickering said. “Mikayla and I work well as a one-two punch, and I was happy to get a chance to keep us in the game late.”

East Union showed the fight and resolve that got them a trip to the semifinals in the sixth inning. Down 5-1, a leadoff base hit from Simpson started a rally that saw a run score on a throwing error after base hits from Pickering and Fallon Norman to make it 5-2. A walk to Jacey Jauregui saw the bases loaded for third baseman Elli Flores with just one out. Flores hit a line drive into the hole between shortstop and third base, but Bryson showed why she is the prospect she is with an outstanding leaping catch, before firing to third to complete the double play and end the rally for the Lancers.

Pioneer would add on three runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach and end the fantastic run from East Union.

“I can’t say enough just how grateful I am for this group of seniors,” DeBrouwer said. “From Mikayla to Leah to Izzy (Avalos) behind the plate, they set the tone and led this young team on a great run in what will be looked back on as a great season for the program.”

East Union should be poised to take another step forward next season, as it returns a young core unit led by Pickering, as well as Caliyah Lopez and Savanna Lopez.

“We know how much work it took to get here, and how much work it will take to get back,” Pickering said. “We’ll get back in the weight room and keep getting better and hopefully make an even deeper run next season.”