An emphatic start to the evening and a strong close resulted in a split for the Washington baseball team last night when they traveled to Joyce Park to face Keokuk in the final Southeast Conference doubleheader of the season. 

As heard on KCII, Washington brought the energy from the onset in game one with the top of the order in Ethan Patterson, Lucas Kroll, and Kole Williams combining to go 5-for-5 with a walk and six RBI in the first two innings to race out to a 6-0 advantage. The momentum completely swung in the fourth inning when a 6-1 Demon lead vanished after four consecutive two out RBI knocks from the Chiefs’ (11-17, 6-14) top of the order and they grabbed the 7-6 edge. A two run shot in the seventh by Miller Giesler was enough insurance for the hosts to win the opener 9-6. Ethan Zieglowsky threw three strong frames before getting into trouble the third time through the lineup. Kroll and Williams each went 2-for-4 with three RBI. 

Game two saw Williams stay red hot with a solo blast into the right field abyss and he erased a 2-1 deficit in the third with a RBI fielder’s choice. Isaac Vetter gave the Demons the lead for good with a single in the fourth and adding on in the later innings made it 7-3. Keokuk made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh with the tying run in scoring position, but Luke Beenblossom caught Bryor Lindner looking at the plate to cap off a 7-5 victory. Williams picked up two more hits and racked up four RBI to go along with six innings on the hill surrendering three runs on five hits. 

The senior Williams tells KCII Sports about the team’s offensive approach in game two and how the home run felt off the bat. “The big emphasis was play, don’t think at the plate. We scored in every inning but the second so I was really happy for our team with that. As far as the home run goes, I have been close all year with a couple fence shots so to see that one go was definitely a great moment. They weren’t able to find the ball over the fence, but it still made my day.” Zieglowsky went 2-for-4 and the offense finished with eight knocks. 

The Demons are now 6-18 and conclude the SEC slate 4-14. They return home tonight to face Clear Creek Amana before the regular season finale on Tuesday against Pella. The orange and black will face No. 1 Davenport Assumption on Friday, July 8th in a first round class 3A district.