Duwa dinger drives Demons

IOWA CITY - Facing the seventh-ranked team in Class 2A was not a problem for the Washington High School softball team Tuesday.

The Demons dashed past Iowa City Regina, 6-1, as Kinsey Duwa delivered a home run and Molly Sparks held the Regals without a walk on eight hits and two strikeouts.

'This game should give us confidence that we can play with and beat anyone, as regionals come around in two weeks,” Washington head coach Ben Obermann said. 'If there is a blueprint of how we want to play, this would be a game we want to keep mirroring, as Regina is a state tournament caliber team.”

The Demons' Class 4A postseason begins at home July 11 with a 7 p.m. game against Iowa City Liberty (13-17). The winner plays at No. 10 Cedar Rapids Xavier (19-9) July 13 at 7 p.m. The game to go to state would be July 16 at 7 p.m. at the highest remaining seed. The other side of the bracket has Marion (14-16) and Clear Creek-Amana (9-15) playing with the winner facing No. 7 Independence (23-10).

Duwa also hit a single while Kellie Dallmeyer and Alexa Mitchell contributed two hits apiece as well.

'It was a great team win for our girls,” Obermann said. 'We played well in all three phases of the game. Defensively, we played clean, and Molly was outstanding on the mound, commanding the strike zone and changing speeds, which kept the Regina hitters off-balanced.”

Regina pitcher Katie Bracken had 11 strikeouts with one walk and six hits allowed. Only three Demon runs were earned.

'Offensively, we took advantage of Bracken before she could settle in,” Obermann said. 'She is a very good pitcher, which was evident by how she held us down later in the game. Even though we only scored in the first two innings, I still think our approaches were great and we hit the ball hard.”

The Demons notched four runs in the first inning and two in the second. The home team scored its run in the seventh.

After being swept by Fairfield June 17, the Demons have won seven in a row.

The Demons are 20-10 and play at No. 13 Mt. Pleasant today.