The Washington Demons began the baseball season on a high note by knocking off Highland 8-3 last night at Dick Sojka Memorial Field in Washington.

The Demon lineup had an excellent night, scoring in each of the first five innings. Among the big hits was a single by junior Aaron Boone that drove in a run in the second, as well as an RBI double by junior Joel Meyer that capped a three-run third.

Meanwhile, junior Conner Leyden gave Washington a strong starting pitching effort. The right-hander allowed just one run on two hits and three walks in four innings pitched while racking up seven strikeouts. After the game, Demons head coach TJ Rausch told KCII Sports that Leyden has put in a lot of work to be ready to take the mound.

“Conner [was at] state track all last week,” Rausch said, “so he’s been gone for five days without throwing, and [he] also had surgery in the offseason on his left shoulder, so for him to come out and have the performance that he did tonight was very impressive.”

Freshman Brady Krantz also pitched two innings and came up with five strikeouts in Washington’s season-opening victory. The Demons will next play Thursday at Muscatine.