Linnekamp carries Demons

OXFORD - Cara Linnenkamp had been throwing pitches all night but her most rewarding throw was a tossed glove as she threw herself into the arms of first baseman Emma Herr when the final out was recorded Saturday for a 3-1 Washington win over Clear Creek-Amana in a Class 4A regional semifinal.

Linnenkamp got the win with a complete game that had three walks, seven hits, two hit batters and five strikeouts. The most important of those strikeouts was the last one which came with one out and two on and it was an impressive change-of-speed pitch. The final out in Thursday's 10-7 comeback win over Grinnell was a third-strike change-up.

'Right now, my best pitch is probably my change-up,” Linnenkamp said. 'It's pretty fun to see some girls (double clutch).”

Fun is something the Demons have had while practicing.' In practice, we have been working on a lot of different situations,” Linnenkamp said. 'That has made practice really fun lately. We have all become positive, upbeat and we're all having fun.”

That fun seems to have helped Washington peak at the right time, which is something Coach Ben Obermann has preached from the beginning of the shortened season. 'It's not me,” he said, 'it was all the girls. We were prepping for this part of the season all year.”

The Demons have been slow starters on offense but it was the opposite against CCA. Leadoff batter Kaitlyn Mitchell was hit by a pitch, then Kinsey Duwa bunted and the ball rolled to the outfield, putting Duwa on second and Mitchell on third. Kellie Dallmeyer stroked a base hit up the middle to score two. The first out of the game was Linnenkamp's sacrifice bunt, followed by Anna Venenga's sacrifice. Alexa Mitchell's single scored Dallmeyer for a 3-0 lead.

CCA led off the second inning with a hit, a sacrifice and a groundout, then a run-scoring single to make it 3-1.

'We definitely thought we would score more than one run,” CCA co-head coach Jodie Sheetz said. 'We put the ball in play but we left runners on base in every inning. We were not able to get the big hit against her when we needed it.”

The last five innings went by without a run.

'I never would've thought three runs would be enough,” Obermann said. 'That's how good our defense was behind Kara. This is the game we have been searching for. That is our best performance pitching and defense in two or three years.”

Obermann has is in his fifth year at the helm and Tuesday's game against second-ranked West Delaware (20-4) is his first regional final. It is the Demons' first since 2014, which was after two consecutive state appearances.

Saturday's win was special for Linnekamp. 'This is such an amazing feeling,” she said as she choked up. 'I get emotional about this because my sister‘s crew was the last group to go to state. Me being here is amazing and I'm just really proud of this team. We made it this far, so why not go all the way.”

Linnekamp has changed her pregame routine, warming up for 40 minutes before the last two games.

The Demons have changed their communication, talking before pitches about possibilities.

'It was very stressful coming into these regional games,” Linnenkamp said. 'I basically just told myself, ‘don't suck'. This win is a really big confidence booster.”

'This was a big-time game, being a regional on the road in a pressure situation,” Obermann said. 'It is not an easy place to play with the music blaring and walk-up music for each batter and the noise the dugout makes. It's a program that has been to the state tournament 34 times. This was an outstanding win that's great for our girls.”