The Washington Demon softball team celebrated a successful year at their end of the season banquet on Tuesday night.  And what a season it was.

Though they finished with a losing record of 17-22, it is not indicative of the way they played; especially late in the season.

They started the season 6-17.  There was a point where head coach Ben Obermann knew it was time for a change.

And that came after the double-header in Mount Pleasant.  Some mental and physical mistakes cost them those games, and it was at that point he decided to shift some things around.  Halle Leyden would move in from her usual center field to play second base.  Kinzie Duwa took the center field mantle after recovering from injury.  Megan Mitchell, who had played her entire high school career at second base, was now an outfielder.

Obermann made some shifts in the batting order as well; Kellie Dallmeyer moved up to the leadoff spot.  Morgan Brinning moved from the one to the two hole.  Haylee Wilson was moved down in the order to make for some more consistent hitting in the 7-9 holes.  The list goes on, and shifts continued to happen throughout the season.  They took the North Scott tournament and the following game to adjust to those changes.  That was the turning point.

The Demons went on a tear their last 15 games of the season, going 11-4 and outscoring opponents 80-53 in that span.  They swept Mount Pleasant, Fairfield and Fort Madison in their final meetings with them to boost their conference record to 10-6; good enough for a share of the conference title.

They dominated in conference play, leading the league in batting average (.362), hits (159) and RBI (90).  They also showed the best plate discipline in the conference, walking 56 times (the most in the conference) and striking out a league-low 36 times; a number that no other conference team was close to.

They ended their season in the district semis, losing to a ranked Newton team that is currently vying for third place in the state tournament.  As much of a mismatch as that game may have appeared on paper, it was far from that in reality.  It was a narrow 3-1 loss, due to a one-hit performance from the pitcher with the second-lowest ERA in class 4A.

When all is said and done, it was a season to remember.  From an upset victory over the defending 2A champs to a share of the conference title, this season is surely a sign of good things to come for Washington softball.