Demons have Southeast Conference softball title to defend

The Washington Demons claimed a share of the Southeast Conference title in softball last season as they and Keokuk both had 10-6 records. This season means defending that title and a plan to win it outright.

'Our girls have a great vision and mindset as a team,” WHS coach Ben Obermann said. 'They want to be better than last season and reach new heights, and are not content. I think we have a cohesive group of girls who have been playing together for a while now, and I think that's the real advantage, and not entirely due to the past successes. We have great team chemistry and everyone is pulling for one another, which comes from us all buying into the family core value and putting ‘we' in front of ‘me.'”

A successful season for the Demons could mean a number of things.

'The girls have lofty goals, which is what you want to see as a coach,” Obermann said. 'For me, all I want to see is for us to be clicking on all cylinders once we hit July and inch closer to tournament play. We have quite the mix of youth and veterans on this team, which means the team you see in May will not be the same team you see in July, and that's the exciting thing.”

Obermann said a conference championship or a regional final are not necessarily gauges of success, as those destinations are sometimes out of one's control.

'For me, if we are a successful team, we will have shown exponential growth from our first game on May 20, to when we play our last game, in every phase of the game. I believe we can be a dangerous team, and if we continue to get better each day, this will be a very successful group and the results will take care of themselves.”

There are always unknowns in a season and with Iowa's weather, that is something that is uncontrollable. The weather has caused teams a great deal of adversity early in the season. cancellations, postponements and makeup games will further complicate and harden a schedule.

'I think the big thing for us is to keep our mindset in the right place and focus on us and what we can control,” Obermann said. 'There's going to be some tough days and some really good days this summer, and now with how the weather has dampened the mood to start the season, it adds another component. We can't let the lows get too low and the highs get too high. We must keep an even-keeled attitude from day-to-day. Focus on one game, one at-bat, and one inning at a time. If we do that and just focus on the present, we will be fine, but that is always the challenge. If we focus on the controllables and just worry about us and consistent improvement on a daily basis, great things are going to happen for this group, and the destinations will take care of themselves.”

Focus on the minute and the day will take care of itself.

'Our mindset is we want to be better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today and focus on getting better each and every day within every facet of the game, Obermann said. 'Of course, we would love to win a lot of games, win the league, get to State, etc.

Despite being defending champions, Obermann doesn't bring it up to his players.

'We acknowledge that last year was a great season and especially an outstanding finish to the season, but it's in the past. We know we'll have a little target on our back this year within our conference, but really our focus is on the present and what is important now. I think having past success gives us some added confidence, but our girls know we need to focus on the now, in order to be successful as a team in 2019.”

Pitching will be strong since the Demons return all the innings in the circle in senior Molly Sparks (9-12, 3.84 earned run average), junior Alexa Mitchell (8-9, 4.44) and sophomore Cara Linnenkamp (0-1, 7.80).

'Adding a year of experience, we can count on our pitchers to attack the strike zone, mix pitches well, and keep us in all our games,” Obermann said.

One area where Washington will need to improve is defensively if it wants to take the next step this season.

'With the tough schedule we play, we are going to need to limit our defensive miscues and not give teams extra outs to work with,” Obermann said. ‘Errors will happen, but we will need to limit them and make the routine play routinely. I'm confident the more games we get in, and the more situations we see on a nightly basis, we will see quick and exponential growth on the defensive side.”

Another strength of the 2019 Demons could be the offense.

'I think one through nine in our order are consistently going to be tough outs at the plate and put pressure on opposing teams and pitchers,” Obermann said. 'I'm really encouraged and excited to see what we can do offensively this year.”

The Demons batted .319 last year as a team, led by Kellie Dallmeyer's .442 average. Dallmeyer, a sophomore this year, led the team in home runs (4), doubles (12), slugging percentage (.673) and on base percentage (.558).

Haylee Wilson batted .339 last year as a junior. Kinsey Duwa batted .282 as a sophmore and Linnenkamp .382. Both saw limited action at the plate.

Dallmeyer received preseason recognition in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

'I think Kellie's recognition is great for both her and the team,” Obermann said. 'Kellie is a tireless worker and the amount of time she puts in in the offseason and outside practice time is second to none. As only a sophomore, she is a leader for this team by example and by voice. Watching her compete and work is so much fun to see as a coach, and you see that work effort trickle down to the rest of the team. As Kellie rolls, we roll as a team. She is another one who wants to be the best and knows last season is behind her. It's a great honor, but she has even loftier goals for herself and us as a team. Kellie and the team will still play with a chip this season, and it's going to be exciting watching her and the team continue to grow and be dangerous.”