The Washington Demons had their softball season end in a 5-4 loss to Central Lee Saturday night in the Class 3A Region 8 semifinals. Central Lee broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fourth inning, but Washington got back-to-back base hits with two outs from senior Rylee Libe and junior Lauren Hinrichsen to take the lead in the bottom half.

A two-run double from junior Alyvia Anderson stretched the lead to 4-1 in the fifth, and the Demons soon found themselves three outs away from victory. But the Hawks pulled off a stunning comeback with five hits and four runs scored in the top of the seventh.

Washington would manage to load the bases in the home half of the final inning but could not push across the tying run. After the game, Demons head coach Ben Obermann told KCII Sports that he hoped he gave his team perspective in the aftermath of the defeat.

“[I] just told them I loved them [and I] told them I appreciated everything they did for us this season,” Obermann said. “We had big goals that we fell short [of], and that’s what you want. You shoot for the sky, and if you fall short, it’s going to hurt.”

“But the sun will come up tomorrow. They’re going to have great seasons in their other sports in the fall, winter and spring. We’ll get back after it, like we always do, in January, and I know this is going to fuel our to-be seniors and everybody that’s back next year, because we’re going to come at it again and continue to fight.”

Hinrichsen finished with two hits for Washington, while sophomore Leighton Salazar stroked a double and senior Rylee Libe and juniors Kendall Hinrichsen and Ella Greiner had one base hit each. The season ends for the Demons with a record of 24-12. Washington will lose Libe and fellow senior Emery Walton to graduation.