The Washington Demons are one step away from reaching the state softball tournament, and they can clear the final hurdle this evening when they take on Davenport Assumption in the Class 3A Region 5 finals on KCII.
Washington has put together arguably the best season for the program since their last trip to state in 2013. The Demons are 28-9, winners of their first conference championship in seven years and ranked 10th in the state in Class 3A.
An elite lineup has made Washington the third-highest-scoring team in 3A. Junior Leighton Salazar is rewriting the school record books again, on pace for a third straight all-state selection with a .539 batting average, 69 total hits, 58 runs scored and 53 stolen bases.
Senior Ella Greiner leads the team with 45 runs batted in and is playing at an all-state level as well, hitting .456 with nine doubles and three home runs, while sophomore Colbie Greiner is batting just shy of .400 to go with 11 doubles, four homers and 39 RBI.
Freshman Makenzie Messer and seniors Alyvia Anderson and Bella Salazar have also each collected at least 26 runs driven in while hitting better than .330.
Meanwhile, Salazar and senior Halle Cuddeback have delivered outstanding final seasons as Demon pitchers, each giving up an earned-run average of just 2.71 or better and combining for 141 strikeouts in 143 innings.
Head coach Ben Obermann tells KCII Sports that his team is doing everything necessary to continue a deep playoff run, and now they need to put together another all-around effort to do something special.
“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves [and] continue to do the little things right, which we’ve done so far in the postseason,” Obermann says. “We’ll prep well, we’ll be prepared and we’ll go give it our best shot, because these opportunities don’t come around a lot of the time. We’re going to give everything we have for seven innings for one shot at state.”
If Washington is going to get back to state for the first time in over a decade, they will have to go through a perennial powerhouse in Assumption. The Knights finished runner-up in all of Class 3A last season and have been to the state tournament eight straight times.
Freshman Sophia Caudle, who is batting .525 with 64 total hits, 53 runs scored and 62 steals, is one of many young players that have Assumption again ranked in the top five in the state. The Knights defeated the Demons earlier this season and have won all three meetings between the two teams over the last two years.
You can hear all the action as Washington softball seeks a bid to state this evening in Davenport on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app, starting with the Countdown to First Pitch tonight at 6:30.