At KCII we’ve been counting down the top 10 biggest stories in Washington High School sports for the 2024-2025 academic year. At number one is the softball team making the state tournament for the first time since 2013.

26 wins in the regular season and their first conference championship in seven years were a start, but entering a season ranked in the top 15 in Class 3A for a second straight year had Washington softball thinking big, and it all came together this past July.

The postseason run began July 10th, as the Demons dominated Midland in the regional quarterfinals by scoring 10 runs in the first inning alone en route to a 22-0 victory after three frames.

Ella Greiner led the lineup with three hits, four runs scored and five runs batted in, while fellow senior Alyvia Anderson picked up three RBI on two hits. Sophomore Colbie Greiner also scored four times and drove in a pair, while freshman Makenzie Messer stroked a double as part of a two-hit, two-RBI game.

Washington would again grab the initial lead on their home diamond two nights later in the semifinals against Central Lee, as a second-inning double by Messer drove in a run.

But the Demons would seize control by scoring eight times in the third, including a two-run single by Ella Greiner and a two-run triple by junior Leighton Salazar.

Meanwhile, senior Bella Salazar kept in check a Central Lee lineup that knocked Washington out of the playoffs the previous year, yielding just one hit and one walk in four innings pitched to help finish off a 10-0 victory.

The last hurdle to clear was Davenport Assumption in the Class 3A Region 5 finals, a team that played for the state title each of the last two years.

The Knights grabbed the initial lead in the first inning, but a walk by Ella Greiner and a double by Colbie Greiner turned into the first two runs of the night for Washington and a third-inning lead.

Assumption would score three times in the bottom of the third, but the Demons dug deep and summoned a late rally. Freshman Natalie Hartman came around score after a lead-off double in the sixth, and with the game on the line in the seventh inning, Washington summoned a spectacular rally.

Colbie Greiner bounced a base hit off the glove of a defender for a double, and a walk to Alyvia Anderson and a bunt single by fellow senior Bella Salazar loaded the bases.

With one out, Messer poked a ground ball up the middle that went off the glove of a Knight defender, resulting in a single that scored both Greiner and senior Alyvia Anderson and gave Washington a 5-4 lead.

Freshman Reagan Miller would added a two-out base hit that drove in another run, and, while the tying run came to the plate for Assumption in the bottom of the seventh, the Demons held them in check to punch their ticket to Fort Dodge.

Washington would suffer a loss in both of their games at the state tournament. While Colbie Greiner blasted a two-run home run to tie the game against defending champion Williamsburg in the state quarterfinals, and the Demons only trailed by a run most of the day, they would fall by a final score of 7-2.

Washington would hang tough in their consolation game but would fall 3-1 to Estherville Lincoln Central. Nonetheless, the Demons finish the season with a mark of 29-11, the third-most wins in a season for the program in the 21st century, and just the fourth trip to the state tournament in school history.

Ella Greiner and Leighton Salazar would go on to receive first-team all-state selections in Class 3A from the Iowa Girls Coaches Association, and Greiner was named to the all-tournament team in Class 3A for going four-for-six with a double, one run scored and one run batted in the games at state.

Congratulations to head coach Ben Obermann and the entire Demon softball team on a great season and being Number One on our countdown of the Top 10 Washington High Sports Stories of 2024-2025. Find the full countdown list up at KCIIradio.com.