Dallmeyer leads Demons to 1st home softball win

WASHINGTON — When there is a stolen base, it is most often second base. The good base runners sometimes steal third base.

Only the best steal home. Stealing third once and home twice in one game, well, that is Washington senior Kellie Dallmeyer.

Monday Dallmeyer had three of Washington’s five stolen bases, two of its three doubles, scored three runs and batted in three of the Demons’ runs in the 8-4 home win Memorial Day evening.

For good measure, Dallmeyer, who played catcher, gunned down a Durant runner attempting to steal second. It saved a run because the batter hit a triple.

Durant scored in the top of the first inning, but Washington leadoff batter drew a walk and Dallmeyer doubled to send Ava Turner home. Dallmeyer stole third, then home.

The Demons have been working on a lot of drills for speed and agility. But it takes more than that to be successful stealing bases and especially stealing home.

"Using my quickness and ability is important, but stealing is also about getting a good read and about being aware of the situation,“ Dallmeyer said.

Emma Herr scored when Ella Greiner doubled, and it was a 3-1 lead after one.

Greiner, who played left field, and Isabella Salazar, shortstop, are both eighth-graders playing varsity, which is familiar territory for Dallmeyer, who is a senior.

"It has been a lot of fun trying to teach them the ropes. I had good senior leaders and junior leaders as an eighth-grader like Jesse Bucholz, Megan Mitchell and Morgan Brinning.“

Durant scored a run in each of the third, fifth and seventh innings. The Demons had enough runs to win after Elyse Hunt lead off the fourth inning and scored when Herr was hit by a pitch.

Dallmeyer had drawn a base on balls, advanced on a walk and the hit batter. Durant called time, providing Dallmeyer a chance to plot strategy.

“ (Washington head coach Ben Obermann) and I talked, and we said if they’re not looking, just go,“ Dallmeyer said. ”We thought they were talking about me, thought the time out was about me. Apparently it wasn’t.“

Maybe it should’ve been as she stole home for a 5-2 lead on the first pitch after the timeout.

Dallmeyer’s double in the fifth brought Turner and Hunt home. Hunt had singled again. Dallmeyer had a “Little League” home run on the hit as she just kept running as Durant throwing errors let her score.

Dallmeyer has hit one out this season after none last year, but four as a freshman and three as a sophomore.

That ability gives her a chance to get into opponents’ heads with power and speed both threats the opposition has to deal with.

“I don’t try to hit a home run, I was just seeing the ball well,” Dallmeyer said. “I don’t try to do too much, just make contact.”

Washington is 2-3 but two of the losses were to teams in the River Valley Conference, which had five teams ranked including Durant (10th in 2A and Regina 11th in 2A).

“The losses are early in the season, and we are doing a lot of good things that I think put us five steps ahead of where we were last year,” Dallmeyer said. “We have some young girls that are still trying to learn the ropes. I think by the end of June and into July we will be pretty dangerous.”

Cara Linnenkamp got the win with seven strikeouts, two walks and five hits. Only one run was earned as Washington committed five errors and has 15 total thus far.

“At least the errors were not in crucial situations,” Obermann said. “We’re making progress, and as long as we stay true to the process that we’re working on, we are going to be where we want to be at the right time of the year. The teams we’re playing are good teams and that will help us in the long run.”