Area softball wrap-up

Demon softball swept at tournament

In weekend tournament action, the Washington softball team went to Oskaloosa for their annual tournament.

The Demons fell in their two games played on Saturday, dropping a game to Class 2A, No. 11 ranked Pella Christian 10-2, before falling to Newton 5-2.

In the first game, Pella Christian swung the bats well, leading to the 10 runs in the contest.

?Pella Christian is an extremely solid team and they swung the bat well,? Washington softball head coach Ben Obermann said. ?Our pitchers threw strikes and we battled, but they did a nice job swinging the bats against us.?

The Demons had a chance to get a few more runs on the board, but were unable to come through with a good opportunity later in the game.

?We had it at a 4-1 game at one point with the bases loaded, but we couldn?t get anything,? Obermann said. ?That big, clutch hit is still eluding us at the moment. We are showing glimpses of playing solid softball, but we still have to put 21 outs together.?

In the Demons? contest against Newton, the teams played to a draw through the early innings, until Newton claimed a 3-0 midway through the game.

In the next frame, Tori Brush, who was getting her first opportunity for the Demons as the designated hitter, notched a two-out, two-RBI single to highlight the day, bringing the Demons closer.

However, Washington couldn?t complete the comeback, and fell to 2-6 on the year.

?We didn?t make too many defensive miscues and like I told the girls, I can handle losing that way,? Obermann said. ?We weren?t giving them free bases. We knew we had two quality opponents.?

The quality opponents won?t stop anytime soon for the Demons, as they host Class 4A, No. 9 ranked Keokuk on Monday, and Class 4A, No. 6 ranked Oskaloosa on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Demons will travel to face Class 4A, No. 7 ranked Mt. Pleasant in a doubleheader.

?We talked about that over the weekend,? Obermann said. ?We have tonight, tomorrow and Thursday against teams all in the top 10, so we aren?t necessarily focused on the result, but controlling what we can control. We?ll scout them and put them in the best position to succeed, but we are starting a lot of young girls and that?s a positive for us right now. Hopefully we?ll put ourselves in a position where we have a chance in the sixth or seventh inning and then we can grab a win.?

First pitch against Keokuk is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Highland pushes past Columbus

There were only eight hits to be found on Friday night for  Columbus and Highland softball, but Highland was able to take full advantage of theirs.

That proved to be the difference on Friday night, as the Huskies claimed a 3-0 victory over the Wildcats.

The Huskies picked up all three of their runs in the seventh inning, with Cheyann Adamson picking up the only RBIs of the contest, going 1-for-3 with a triple.

Adamson?s triple knocked in Sarah Schneider and Kelsey Hora, while Adamson later scored on a Columbus miscue.

Highland?s Megan Hoenig only allowed three hits to the Wildcats, only allowing one walk, while striking out seven in the contest, while Hora notched three hits and two stolen bases in the game.

Columbus had Kortney Orr in the circle, who only gave up two earned runs, striking out six batters and walking seven.

Bailey Stroud notched two hits in the game, while Shania Boyd had a double.

Highland will play at IMS on Monday night, while Columbus travels to Wilton.