Opportunities were plentiful, but the Washington softball team could not find a timely hit last night, as they saw their season come to a close in a 3-1 defeat to Iowa City Liberty in a class 4A regional quarterfinal.

As heard on KCII, the Lightning got out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first after a solo home run just inside the left field foul pole by Raquel Trolliet. Washington found the equalizer in the second when Kaitlyn Mitchell doubled and courtesy runner Ava Turner came home to score on a throwing error in the next at-bat. The Lightning retook the lead in the fourth on a RBI double from Ashlyn Geasland and added insurance in the seventh on a single from Courtney Olson. The Demons threatened in the bottom half with two runners on but couldn’t connect, as they stranded nine base runners in the game. Head Coach Ben Obermann tells KCII Sports that was the difference last night. “We had runners on all night but as was the theme in the last week or so we couldn’t come up with a clutch hit like we were for much of the season. Just didn’t happen for us tonight but can’t fault the effort of our girls. They were a fun group and I’m going to miss coaching this team.” Haylee Wilson led the six-hit offense going 2-for-3 and Molly Sparks went the distance in the circle giving up three runs on 10 hits and striking out three.

Washington ends the season 22-15 and they bid farewell to Sparks, Wilson, and Carly Burlingame.