Demons fall short of sweep

A late rally by the Washington baseball team was snuffed out by an unlikely circumstance on Monday night.

After claiming a Game 1 victory over Keokuk 13-4, the Demons found themselves trailing 8-7 in the top of the seventh.

With two outs, a hard hit ball looked as if it were going to get through to score the tying run, but the ball found one of the Demon baserunners, and ended the rally, ending the game.

?We did a tremendous job of fighting back last night,? Washington baseball head coach Nathan Miller said. ?We cut the lead from 5-0 to 5-4, then they went up 8-4. In the top of the seventh, we put together one heck of a run. We were down 8-7, with runners on first and second with two outs and Zach Londberg hits a really hard ground ball that?s going to get through the infield, but it hit Dakota Kron. That would have scored the tying run. That?s one of those things we were able to talk about after the game, but the game wasn?t lost because of it.?

The Demons? conference split with the Chiefs puts Washington at 14-11 on the season, and 7-7 in conference play with a pair of conference games to go.

?We need to play with grit and toughness,? Miller said. ?We learned how to play with that last night and that was encouraging. That was the learning point for us last night. The group learned how to play with a little bit of an edge.?

Early on in the first game against Keokuk, the Chiefs took a 2-0 lead, and led 3-1 going into the fourth inning, with the lone Demon run coming from a passed ball.

In the fourth, the Demons got their bats going, with Michael Ellingson notching an RBI single, followed by a pair of bases-loaded walks.

Ryan Loy and Kron each notched an RBI single, highlighting a six-run frame.

The Demons added a run in the fifth with a Noah Enfield RBI double, before the Demons tacked on five more runs in the sixth.

Ellingson had a bases-loaded walk, while an error scored two Demon runs. A balk scored Ellingson, and Enfield notched an RBI single in the win.

Enfield and Ellingson each notched three hits in the contest, with Enfield leading the team with three RBIs from the leadoff spot.

?Noah had three hits in the first game, and has really bought into the leadoff position,? Miller said. ?In the first at-bat of the second game, he saw seven pitches against their ace. That gives our guys a chance to see his stuff and make him work.?

Ellingson and Aaron Vittetoe each notched two RBIs in the game.

Zach Londberg had a pair of hits in the game, and earned the win on the mound, going four innings, allowing eight hits and one earned run.

In Game 2, the Demons gave up five runs in the first couple of innings, and despite battling back twice, they couldn?t get over the hump.

?The second game was more about spotting them five runs in the first two innings and not hitting spots,? Miller said. ?We talked with (Game 2 starter Tanner Coleman), and we?ve left a few balls down the middle of the plate. Last night we tracked him, and one positive was that against Fairfield (last Monday) he left 90 percent of his pitches down the middle of the plate. Last night was 50 percent, but we can?t spot them five runs.?

Washington will return home on Wednesday night when they take on Central Lee in a single varsity game, with Demon sophomore Matthew Wheeler penciled in to make his first varsity start.

?We are going to chop things up from the pitching staff,? Miller said. ?We need the four or five guys on the mound tomorrow to throw strikes. We need a few good innings from Matthew Wheeler, and then have everyone else give us one good inning.?