Costly walks doom Demons

Walks came back to haunt the Washington baseball team on Tuesday night, as they took on Solon in the regular-season finale.

The Demons issued 11 walks and hit two batters on the night, all of them coming in the first four-plus innings of the game, as Solon cruised to a 10-3 victory over the Demons, who ended the regular season with a record of 6-19.

Despite a tough record, the Demons? focus is solely on the postseason now.

?It?s 0-0 now. It doesn?t matter what happened during the season,? Washington head coach Nathan Miller said. ?It comes down to whether you believe you can do it or not. This group has some talent, there?s no doubt about that. Offensively, we are hitting with just about anyone right now.?

The Demons out-hit the Spartans 8-4 on the night, but a pair of double plays in the first and second innings spoiled a couple of promising innings.

?I was pleased with (the offense),? Miller said. ?In the first inning, we had two on and one out, and the bases loaded (in the third). Every inning we were putting competitive at-bats together, and we spread the ball around the field.?

Back-to-back walks opened the game for Solon, who capitalized early with an RBI double and a pair of RBI groundouts to take an early 3-0 lead.

Solon added another run in the second, and quickly was up 4-0.

In the first three innings, Washington lost a number of chances, leaving five runners on base, and hitting into two double plays.

Solon added a run in the top of the fourth, before cruising to five runs in the fifth, helped by a walk, two hit batters and three singles.

Down 10-0, Washington broke through on the scoreboard, when Michael Ellingson led off the bottom of the fifth with a double.

Ellingson came around to score on a Ryan Loy sacrifice fly, and in the bottom of the sixth, Washington added a couple of more runs.

The Demons loaded the bases with no outs, and picked up a run on a double play ball, before a Collin Zear RBI single made it 10-3.

?The mood is just like any team that has been successful,? Miller said. ?It?s great. We just need a little more of a bond and togetherness. There are times in games when good things are happening, and from the dugout, you can?t tell. We need those vocal leaders to step up and help us create momentum.?

With recently ranked Williamsburg as the first opponent on the playoff docket, the Demons aren?t feeling any pressure heading into Friday.

?There is no intimidation,? Miller said. ?We are the underdog, and underdogs have a lot of fight. Nobody is expecting us to win, and that?s the attitude we have. We can play relaxed, and we are going to put it all out there. We will try to be as unpredictable as we can, and make sure we come out with a lot of energy.?

Washington?s postseason will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday at Williamsburg.