Demon softball falls to ranked Keokuk

Miscues came back to haunt the Washington softball team on Monday night.

The Demons hosted the No. 11 ranked Keokuk softball team in a conference doubleheader, and in both games, the Chiefs looked the part, as they picked up a sweep, 6-1, 13-0, over Washington.

The Demons fell to 4-23 on the year with the pair of losses, ending a two-game winning streak from the weekend.

?Saturday we had a big talk before both of our games and we played well,? Washington softball head coach Angie Shrader said. ?We had great defense, great enthusiasm and went up to the plate with confidence. Today, in that first game, we had a number of chances to win, but we had our own errors and we put ourselves in a position where we got down too much. We couldn?t find the way to get it done tonight.?

In Game 1, the Chiefs and Demons played scoreless for two innings, before a leadoff walk in the third helped Keokuk put two runs on the board with the help of a Demon error.

Two more runs came across in the fourth inning, before the Demon offense got rolling in the fifth.

A one-out walk for Mackenzie Knutson eventually came around to score for Washington, as Jessie Buchholz picked up a two-out single in the frame.

Two more runs came across for the Chiefs in the seventh inning, and the Demons were shut down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to close out the game.

In Game 2, Washington and Keokuk played scoreless for two innings again, but the Chiefs got their bats going in the third, plating four runs on four hits.

Two more runs came across in the fourth, before a seven-run fifth inning helped end the game early, giving Keokuk the sweep.

Washington had one hit in the game, and four for the night.

?(The girls) are upset because they know they can play softball,? Shrader said. ?This weekend, we beat Davenport Central, who doesn?t have the best pitching, and Muscatine, who is typically a ranked ballclub. They are a little bit down this year, but they are a 5A team. We realize we can do it, but we didn?t give our best effort and they know we can compete better against these teams.?

The Demons will look to right the ship in a pair of make-up games at Fairfield on Tuesday night.