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The 2022 journey came to a close Wednesday for the Washington softball team when they got down early and couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole in a 10-0 loss to No. 7 West Burlington in a first round class 3A regional. 

The Falcons quickly put the pressure on with the bases loaded and no one out in the first when Bella Salazar got the clean up batter to ground into a 1-2-3 double play. Looking like the Demons were going to get out of a serious jam, West Burlington answered with the next four batters reaching and they got out to a 4-0 advantage. Washington had chances to cut into the deficit including loading the bases with one down in the third, but Falcon pitcher Lauren Summers delivered back-to-back punch outs to escape unscathed. They picked up single tallies in the third and fourth before managing four hits and four runs in the fifth to cap off the mercy-rule victory. The hosts finished with 11 hits and Summers tossed a complete game four hitter. Leighton Salazar went 2-for-3 for Washington with a double. Bella Salazar gave up four runs in the opening inning and Halle Cuddeback tossed the final four frames surrendering six runs on seven hits to a team that averages 8.2 runs a night. 

Head Coach Ben Obermann tells KCII Sports his assessment of the season. “I really felt that we improved. I know it doesn’t always show up results wise, but you could see the work they put in the cages and in the field. Our defense played much better in the second half of the year and we had solid approaches at the plate.”

West Burlington moves to 24-7 and advance to play Central Lee (18-7) in the semifinals on Saturday. Washington closes the campaign 13-25 overall with 11 of their 16 players on the roster being underclassmen. They say goodbye to four seniors in RyLee Fishback, Ava Turner, Elyse Hunt, and Olivia Hamilton. 

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