Chiefs sweep Demons

It was the late innings that doomed the Demons on the diamond on Monday night.

Taking on Keokuk in a pair of conference games, Washington couldn?t come up with enough runs to pick up a victory, being swept by the Chiefs 7-3, 11-2.

For the Demons (5-12), it was the first set of games played in nearly a week due to rain, but head coach Nathan Miller isn?t pointing to the weather as an excuse.

?It?s difficult, but everyone else is doing it,? Miller said. ?Keokuk hardly played at all last week, but they came in and won two. You can talk about it, but at some point, it can?t be an excuse anymore. You just have to step up and play.?

Keokuk started off Game 1 quickly, with a leadoff walk coming around to score on an RBI double.

A passed ball made it 2-0 Chiefs in the top of the first, and then the Keokuk defense put the clamps down.

Washington mustered four hits in the first four innings, but couldn?t bring a runner across, stranding all four on base.

After Keokuk scored a run in the third, the Chiefs tacked on two more in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead.

The Demons were held without a base runner in the fifth and sixth innings, before Keokuk added two more runs in the top of the seventh to make it 7-0.

Washington got its offense going in the bottom of the seventh, with Dakota Kron scoring on an error, and Aaron Vittetoe driving in Zach Londberg with a double. Vittetoe scored on an RBI single by Bryce Craff, but it was too little, too late for the Demons.

Miller noted that a lack of first-pitch strikes and high pitch counts led to the Demons struggling to keep Keokuk off the base paths.

?When you get behind in pitch counts, it forces you to throw fastballs,? Miller said. ?Any team that knows a fastball is coming, is going to put some good swings on the ball. We have to be bulls on the mound.?

Keokuk started Game 2 off quickly, putting runs up in each of the first and second innings, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead before the Demons got on the board in the fourth inning.

Kron reached base on a walk to lead off the bottom of the fourth, and scored on a Vittetoe single to cut the deficit to one.

Keokuk added another in the top of the fifth, before Blake Weidman reached on an error and eventually came around to score on a passed ball to make it 3-2.

After that, the Chiefs opened up the floodgates with a three-run sixth inning and a five-run seventh inning, holding the Demons scoreless over that stretch to pick up the victories.

?In both games, I looked over to the scoreboard going into the last innings and it was (close),? Miller said. ?It was one of those nights where (Keokuk) made their breaks, swung the bats well, capitalized on our mistakes, and they walked away with two victories.?

The Demons recorded 12 hits on the night (seven in Game 1), but could only bring across five total runs in the games.

Washington left 13 runners on base in the two games.

?We need to find that even keel and constant flow to the game for constant energy for all seven innings,? Miller said. ?It?s about will. If you?ve played sports, you know that you have to have that drive to get better and push forward, or you won?t.?

The Demons will prepare for a nonconference matchup with Highland on Wednesday, which will be held at Kernels Stadium in Cedar Rapids. Junior Varsity will precede the 7 p.m. varsity game.