Panthers halt Demon postseason

For the second year in a row, the Mt. Pleasant softball team is one win away from the state tournament.

The 10th-ranked Panthers defeated SEC-rival Washington, 12-1 in five innings on Saturday night to advance to the regional final, where they will face No. 6 Oskaloosa for a spot in Fort. Dodge.

?Going into the game, our keys were scoring early, executing early and limiting the free bases we give up,? Washington softball head coach Ben Obermann said. ?Unfortunately we gave up too many free bases and got in a hole, and that hurt us.

?Mt. Pleasant is a very good team, and if I was a betting person, I see them winning and getting to the state tournament,? Obermann added. ?They are playing solid softball right now.?

The Panther offense got into a groove early, sending nine batters to the plate in both the first and second inning.

In the first inning, Bailey Johnson started things off with an RBI double to left-center field. Jackie Fraise brought another in with a double off the right field fence and Julie Lasswell made it 3-0 with a bases-loaded infield single.

Washington?s Kinsey Duwa stopped the bleeding in the first inning with a running catch on a line drive by Kaley White with the bases loaded, but Mt. Pleasant still led by three runs after one.

In the second, Fraise hit a two-RBI single up the middle with the bases loaded and one out. Morgan Fraise picked up an RBI of her own a couple batters later with a bases-loaded walk.

Demon starter Molly Sparks was able to get the next two batters out in the second, leaving the bases loaded for the second straight inning, but the Panthers led, 6-0 after two.

After an RBI-double by Johnson made it 7-0 in the third, the Demons finally broke through in the fourth. Brook Stout came to the plate with a runner on and two outs and hit an RBI double to centerfield to put Washington on the board and cut the lead to 7-1.

Mt. Pleasant loaded the bases once again in the fourth inning, and this time they capitalized with five runs. White hit a one-out bases-loaded RBI single. Chi Glaha followed White with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, and Johnson hit a bases-clearing three-RBI double with two outs.

Washington needed to score at least two runs in the top of the fifth inning to keep the contest going. The Demons put a runner on, but Mt. Pleasant was able to keep Washington scoreless and walk away with an 11-run win.

The loss ended the season for the Demons at 12-26 on the season, and they will say goodbye to their lone senior Mackenzie Knutson.

?When you look at the numbers, it?s never easy to replace your leadoff hitter or your starting centerfielder every game,? Obermann said. ?She could slap and bunt, and she?ll be tough to replace. She was a good leader by example, showing up and working hard. Those are the things you need to do to be successful. That shows the younger girls that if they do the same, they can be a really good player too.?

As Obermann winds down his first season as the Demon head coach, he was happy with the way his team fought this season.

?I think they (bought into the new culture),? Obermann said. ?I think they began to drink the Kool-Aid a little bit with what we are trying to teach with the one-pitch warrior stuff. Overall, regardless of their age, we were one family as well, so that was encouraging. There was a lot of growth this year. I?m very excited to see what we can do next year.?