Demons fall to Solon in playoffs

The Washington baseball team opened its postseason on Friday night, but a few errors put them in an early hole they were unable to climb out of.

The Demons fell in the district opener to Solon, in a 6-1 contest that featured three Demon errors, despite multiple offensive opportunities.

?We battled,? Washington baseball head coach Nathan Miller said. ?Offensively, we had bases loaded twice in the game, second and third once, so we had opportunities when they were up and two hits in any of those bases-loaded situations will score three runs.?

Solon struck first in the bottom of the second inning, using four hits and a pair of sacrifices to bring three runs across.

The Spartans added another run in the third before Solon capitalized on an error that allowed two runs to score making it 6-0 after three frames.

Washington responded in the fourth with their first run of the game, coming on a single by Aaron Vittetoe, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI in the game.

?Aaron battled (sickness at the beginning of the year), and he returned in the second week of games,? Miller said. ?With that, you still have lingering effects after a while, and then his offense really turned around. He brought his batting average up at least .100 over the final month.?

In the seventh, Washington loaded the bases with two outs, but Solon closed the door, ending the game, and ending Washington?s season.

?We just had a few plays we didn?t make or might have been able to make, that really was the determining factor in the game,? Miller said. ?Our kids played hard, but there were a couple of spots where we were indecisive and had a couple of physical errors which really were the cause of all the runs.?

Washington?s year ended with a 17-14 record, an 11-win improvement from a season ago, but ending the season in the first round was a tough blow for a junior-laden team.

?It was disappointing,? Miller said. ?All the kids came to the field expecting to win, and we didn?t play up to our capabilities. For us to take the next step, we need to take away the inconsistencies. We have 17 wins this year, compared to six last year, mainly because we played better, but in our 14 losses, I can only think of a couple of games where we were flat-out outplayed.?

For the two seniors on the squad, Michael Ellingson and Cole Embree, Friday marked the final game for them in a Demon uniform, and Miller noted how much they?ve been appreciated on the squad.

?They were seniors who had the mindset that they were going to finish the season as best as they could,? Miller said. ?They didn?t let the outside factors influence their mentality. They pushed the guys so they could get as many wins as they could and that will carry over to next year. That?s a tribute to them.?

As they look to next year, the Demons will return a host of juniors who led the team in hitting and pitching, which should be their strength next year.

?Our pitching was really good this year,? Miller said. ?We ended up with a sub-3.00 ERA and had two guys under a 2.00 ERA. That?s going to be one of our strengths. Offensively, we were batting about .321 going into the game with Solon. From an offensive standpoint, we have a lot of weapons coming back. We just need to reduce the physical errors.?

However, although much of the attention is on the returners, Miller is looking for some newcomers to make an impact next season.

?Our JV finished 18-7 this year and all seven losses came by two or less runs,? Miller said. ?Our junior class gets a lot of publicity, and I want it to be known that we have a lot of kids coming up that are going to fill roles and push a lot of the juniors next year. We are excited about where the program is at. We have a lot of depth coming. Jared Henry did a tremendous job with the JV this year.?