The Washington Demons won a close battle with the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk softball team 4-3 last night. Mid-Prairie took the initial lead when sophomore Dakota Mitchell doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored one at-bat later on a base hit by Brenna Jehle. Washington answered when freshman Leighton Salazar reached on a lead-off single in the bottom of the first inning and came around to score courtesy of a base hit by sophomore Ella Greiner.

The Demons took the lead in the third inning with a run-scoring double by eighth-grader Colbie Greiner and a base hit by Lauren Hinrichsen that drove in a run. Senior Haley Mitchell’s single in the fourth brought home sophomore Kendall Hinrichsen to extend the lead to 4-1.

Senior Madeline Schrader got the Golden Hawks back in the game with a two-run double in the sixth, and Mid-Prairie got the tying run all the way to third base in the seventh. A ground ball by sophomore Sydney Knebel nearly drove in the Hawks’ tying run, but Hinrichsen recovered from a bobble to make a throw to first that was ultimately ruled good for an out that secured the Washington win.

Ella Greiner was the only player on either team to finish with multiple hits, getting three total knocks to extend her now-22-game hitting streak. But Demon head coach Ben Obermann told KCII Sports that a big reason for the victory was sophomore pitcher Bella Salazar.

“In the top of the first, Mid-Prairie came out strong,” Obermann said. “They had [runners at] second and third with nobody out, and Bella was able to get out of that. [If] you let that extend to maybe a three or four-nothing lead against a solid team like Mid-Prairie, you’re probably going to be talking about a different result. [I] give Bella a lot of credit there, in that first inning, [for] staying composed, getting out of that inning. And then she went on a run where there weren’t a lot of base runners. This was one of those nights where she had her best stuff.”

Bella Salazar gave up only two earned runs on six hits and struck out seven in a complete-game victory to help Washington improve to 21-12. Mid-Prairie falls to 14-16. For both teams, there’s more action on the diamond tonight.

Mid-Prairie will look to complete a sweep of conference rival Durant this evening. You can hear the Golden Hawks take on the Wildcats on 102.5 FM and AM 1380 KCII, beginning with the Jessica Yoder & Sarah Bigley with Lepic Kroeger Realtors Pregame Show at 6:30.

Washington will try to end a three-game set with conference foe Burlington with a win that also lets them claim the series. You can hear the Demons battle the Greyhounds on 106.1 FM, starting with the Dino’s Pizza & Steakhouse Pregame Show at 7. Both game broadcasts will be streaming on KCIIradio.com.