Photo Courtesy of Washington Demon Softball Social Media

The Washington girls of summer will kick off a new year tonight with a road trip to Eldon to meet the Cardinal Comets. Washington finished last year 13-25 overall, 9-11 in the Southeast Conference, falling in the regional quarterfinal round of the Class 3A postseason to West Burlington Notre Dame. Last year’s Demons hit .271 as a team with a .365 slug percentage .325OBP and scored 193 runs. They return three of their top four sticks, led by Leighton Salazar who hit .460 as an eighth grader with a team best 52 hits and 21 walks. Isabella Salazar led Washington with 23 RBI and a pair of homers. The two Salazars were the only Demons to hit over .300 a year ago. In the circle, Washington had a 5.07 team ERA with a 1.81 WHIP. Opponents hit .323 against Washington as the Demons surrendered 339 total hits, 246 runs, striking out 151 batters and walking 65. The Demons return everyone who through a pitch last year, led by Salazar with an 8-13 record in 109 innings, a .307 opponent batting average, 155 hits, 33 walks and 94 strikeouts.

Cardinal finished last year 22-13 overall, 8-4 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. They hit .348 as a team, slugged .420 with an OBP of .435 while scoring 251 total runs. They will be without their average and hits leader Caitlyn Reber who moved on through graduation. Back is Emma Becker who was second on the team at .432 with 51 total hits and led the comets with 33 RBI. The Comets had seven players hit over .300 last year. Cardinal’s team ERA was 2.22 a year ago with a 1.23 WHIP and .234 opponent batting average. The Comets return both players who appeared in the circle last season, led by Nicoa McClure who went 17-11 with 171 innings worked a .232 opponent batting average, surrendering 156 hits, 78 runs, walking 42 and striking out 141. This week, Washington Demon head softball coach Ben Obermann talked with KCII Sports about his team’s strengths entering the year. “(Cardinal) has been to back-to-back regional finals. They are very solid. McClure in the circle for them is a stud. They’ll look to put the ball in play. They’re athletic. They’ll do some things on the bases to us that we have to be ready for. We’re looking forward to the challenge with them. For us, the process is big early in the season. This first week, we’re going to face three good teams, starting with Cardinal. That’s why we did some of our scrimmages early on. To get the kinks out, help us relax a little bit. I want to see us compete no matter what the score is on the scoreboard. Bring great energy. Great hustle. Play with that cocky confidence that we want from our girls. Battle through tough points in the game. Limit the big innings. Pitchers throw strikes and have quality at bats.”

These two teams split a doubleheader last year with Cardinal taking a 7-2 win and Washington claiming a wild 14-13 victory. Action starts tonight in game one at 5:30 with the night cap to follow in Eldon.