You could say starting out a season throwing a no-hitter is a good way to go. Pair that with late inning heroics in game two and you have yourself a memorable opening night and that’s exactly what the Washington baseball team did in a doubleheader sweep of Anamosa.

As heard on KCII, in game one Washington blasted 15 runs on 12 hits but that wasn’t the story in a 15-0 shellacking. The headliner was senior Cade Hennigan on the bump, who opened the new year with a no-hitter going 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and only two walks. Chase McDole came in for the final out to seal the no-hit gem. Hennigan didn’t need much run support, but he got just that, as the Demons scored in all but two innings headlined by a 4-for-4 with two RBI performance from Luke Turner.

As baseball goes sometimes, game two was the exact opposite for the Washington offense for 6 plus innings. Anamosa starter Nolan McLean was spectacular mowing down 12 Demon batters and they built a 3-0 lead heading into the final frame. Washington would not go down without a fight loading the bases with no-one out that forced McLean out of the ballgame. A hit by pitch brought in a run but back-to-back outs put Washington on their heels. Down to their final strike Wilx Witthoft brought the magic with a double to left center field that cleared the bases and gave the Demons a 4-3 advantage. Things got interesting in the bottom half but Washington held on for the exciting win. Turner started the game going four innings without giving up an earned run and managed seven strikeouts. Kole Hinrichsen kept the Blue Raider bats at bay in the end to seal the deal. Witthoft was one of three Demons to record a hit in the night cap also coming from Hinrichsen and Ethan Patterson.

Washington starts the new campaign 2-0 and get right back on the diamond tonight traveling to Clear-Creek Amana.