The Washington Demons secured sweeps of conference doubleheaders in both baseball and softball against Keokuk last night. Washington baseball wasted no time taking the lead in Game One, scoring five runs in the first inning and one in the second. Three runs each in the fourth and fifth frames allowed the Demons to win 12-2 and end the game early.

Blayze Richardson had two hits, two runs scored and two runs batted in for Washington at the plate, while fellow sophomore Boden Brown picked up a pair of RBI on one hit.

Richardson also pitched the last two innings for the Demons and gave up no earned runs on two hits and a walk. Sophomore starter Ethan Peebler got the victory on the mound by allowing no hits and no earned runs over the first three frames and racking up eight strikeouts.

Washington had to go the distance to defeat Keokuk in Game Two, but they dominated nonetheless. Three runs in the first inning and five in the second put the Demons up 8-1, and they would cruise from there to a 12-3 victory.

Senior Conner Leyden smacked a run-scoring double in the first for Washington, while freshman Isaac Medrano and eighth-grader Easton Rugg also had RBI base hits.

Leyden would get the victory on the hill as well, pitching the first five innings and working around five hits and four walks allowed while also collecting seven Ks. After the game, Demons head coach TJ Rausch told KCII Sports that his pitchers put together another solid night, but the guys behind them also came through .

“Our defense showed up tonight [and] it was very, very nice to see,” Rausch said. “We’ve been waiting on our defense to show up and help out our pitching. Pitching threw strikes. We were hitting around the zone and being competitive.”

Richardson and senior Nate Edmonds each scored at least two runs for a second straight game as Washington improves to 2-6 in the Southeast Conference and 4-9 overall.

Demon softball would start their sweep of Keokuk with a 14-5 victory in their first game, and they would hold on to knock off the Chiefs 6-3 in Game Two. Washington is still unbeaten in conference play and all alone in first place in the Southeast as the ninth-ranked team in the state in Class 3A raises its record to 16-5.

While softball is off until their next game Thursday at Burlington, Demon baseball is back on the diamond tonight and hosting Oskaloosa. You can hear Washington baseball on KCII this evening starting with pregame coverage at 7 o’clock on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app.