Demons clip Flacons’ wings

An absolute defeathering of the visiting West Burlington Falcons occurred Tuesday with Washington putting up a 19-1 four-inning win, then taking a 13-4 regulation win in a nonconference doubleheader.

What isn't a highlight when there are 19 runs scored in four innings, but Luke Turner provided the Demons' best when he blasted a three-run home run in his second time at bat of the first inning.

'I just put a good swing on it,” Turner said. 'It felt good off the bat. It was a good night overall for us, especially hitting-wise.”

The Demons score 10 in the first inning, eight in the second and a run in the third.

Turner was 3 for 3 with five runs batted in, then had three RBI with a double in the second game.

Kole Hinrichsen went 2 for 3 for Washington with a double and three RBI and struck out eight of the 12 outs in the opener with no walks and one hit allowed.

Turner started on the mound in the second game but ran into trouble in the fourth inning when an error, a hit batter, three walks and another error allowed the Falcons to get within 6-4.

'I got a little bit of fatigue and that contributed to my loss of control,” Turner said

Earlier this season, the Demons beat Keokuk 24-0 then eked out a 4-1 win in the second game.

'I felt like our guys did a much better job of coming out the second game and having the same mindset as the first game,” Demon coach Nathan Miller said. 'I felt we were mentally tough and aggressive except for that one half inning where we struggled. When you get bases-loaded with no outs, you are in trouble, but I felt like we minimized the damage. They were set up for a big inning but we held the lead. What was important was we came back and extended it. We have had an Achilles' heel this year when another team has started to take momentum, we have kind of just let them have it. We took it back tonight and that's what we needed.”

It helps to have an eighth-grader that can handle tough situations as Ethan Patterson came in with one out, walked a batter, saw an error committed, then got a fly out and a strikeout to escape the inning.

'We have been talking about mental toughness all year and it has been a problem for us,” Turner said. 'We played tough and got through that inning and regained the momentum. Ethan did a great job coming in to close out the game for us. He is a heck of an athlete. Ethan is a really quick learner and soaks everything up.”

Patterson pitched the final 3 2/3 innings with six K's, two walks and no hits yielded. He also bats at the No. 4 position in the lineup and went a combined 2 for 6 with a two-RBI double over the two games.

Brandon Dickel went 2 for 2 with two RBI in the second game. The bottom five batters in the order scored 10 of the 13 runs with hustle and by taking extra bases at every opportunity.

'Our pitching has been fine,” Miller said. 'It's good to see us hitting. Last week we played in five games and only gave up 15 hits in 35 innings but went 2-3. What hurt us are free bases and critical errors. What keeps us in games is throwing strikes.”

The Demons are 15-7 and play at Mid-Prairie Friday.