The postseason journey begins for Washington Demon softball tonight when they host Midland in the Class 3A Region 5 quarterfinals on KCII. Washington has put together an excellent regular season, going 26-9 and rising to the number-nine ranking in the state in 3A.

The Demons also captured their first conference championship in seven years thanks to an elite lineup. Junior Leighton Salazar is well on her way to a third all-state selection, leading the team with a .540 batting average, 14 doubles, 67 total hits, 54 runs scored and 52 stolen bases.

Senior Ella Greiner is also having an elite season with the bat, hitting .449 with eight doubles, three home runs and 38 runs batted in, while sophomore Colbie Greiner is bringing the power at the plate by batting .386 with 10 doubles, four homers and 37 RBI.

Meanwhile, seniors Bella Salazar and Halle Cuddeback have led the pitching staff, combining for a 19-4 record, a 2.84 earned-run average and over 130 strikeouts in the circle.

Head coach Ben Obermann tells KCII Sports that his team has all the pieces needed to make a deep playoff run, but they must come out and play well right from the start.

“You can’t take anything for granted in this game,” Obermann says. “It doesn’t matter if a team is 40-0 or 0-40. If you don’t bring energy and you don’t do the little things correctly, you can get beat by anybody.”

Washington is facing a Midland team with a record of 6-25. The Demons defeated the Eagles 10-0 in the regional quarterfinals last year. You can catch Washington playoff softball on KCII this evening on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app, starting with the Countdown to First Pitch at 6:30.