The Washington Demons earned a thrilling victory on the softball diamond last night, coming from behind late to defeat fellow state-ranked squad Central Lee 5-3 at Bob Pearl Field on the campus of the University of Iowa.

Washington took the initial lead with two runs in the top of the first inning, but a two-run home run by junior Kenna Sandoval in the bottom half allowed Central Lee to tie the game up, and the Hawks would go in front with a run in the second frame, a lead that held up for most of the night.

The Demons were still trailing and down to their last out in the top of the seventh seventh, but junior Leighton Salazar came up with her second base hit of the night and senior Ella Greiner reached on a full-count walk.

Once again down to their final strike, sophomore Colbie Greiner popped up a fly ball to right field that managed to fall in for a hit, bringing home both the tying and go-ahead runs for Washington.

Alyvia Anderson brought her home with her second run-scoring single of the evening to create some insurance, and fellow senior Halle Cuddeback finished off the victory at pitcher by keeping Central Lee off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh.

After a complete flip of the script from a blown lead to the Hawks in a playoff meeting last season, Demons head coach Ben Obermann told KCII Sports after the game that his team would not be denied this time.

“This was a big game, a huge game to us [and] a huge game when you think about [regional] pairings coming out too,” Obermann said, “when you think about maybe hosting two games at home versus only one.”

“Our girls were fired up coming in because we [didn’t] forget them celebrating on our field and us letting one slip away, so [I’m] really super proud of our girls. Down to our last strike, [we] didn’t say die.”

Cuddeback allowed nine hits and two walks in a complete-game effort in the circle and was backed up by sterling defense, including three diving catches in center field by Ella Greiner, who told KCII Sports afterwards that she had only one thing on her mind throughout the night.

“I just told myself that I wasn’t going to let anything drop,” Greiner said. “The game was on the line, and I wasn’t going to let anything drop in my outfield.”

In defeating Central Lee, ranked 14th in Class 3A, and earning their 12th win in the last 14 games, number-11 Washington is now 20-6. The Demons will be back in action this evening against Fairfield, looking to wrap up an outright Southeast Conference championship for the first time in over a decade.

You can hear more Demon softball on KCII tonight, starting with the Countdown to First Pitch at 7 o’clock on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII1 app.