By DON EDEN
Dowagiac Daily News

On Friday, a pair of junior Dowagiac (10-10, 6-4) softball hurlers, a couple star four-year starting catchers and a plethora of hometown hitters were witnessed in a doubleheader sweep of Wolverine Conference foe Plainwell (11-13, 6-6).

In the opener, a total of 16 base hits were amassed in a six-inning 11-1 triumph with Miranda East striking out six batters followed by a 11-2 victory as Tara Sova struck out nine visitors and 19 batters finding success at the plate.

“It was nice to see how we are continuing to hit all the way through the lineup,” Dowagiac coach Mike Behnke boasted. “Our pitchers have struggled a little bit this year so I am more pleased with how they hit their spots better for location.”

Leading the hitting barrage in the first game with a trio of safeties apiece were Sova, along with classmates Devon Ownby and Katie Lorenz as the latter pair each had a double.

“Dowagiac has a tough batting order throughout with everybody putting bat on ball and Mike (Behnke) being a good coach helps a lot,” noted Plainwell coach Rich Harrison. “Both our two seniors are real good leaders with Jennifer Farnsworth (shortstop) and Melissa Kiel (catcher) each knocking the cover off the ball themselves.”

Farnsworth led off with a single in the first inning of both games and collected half of the six total base hits for Plainwell with Kiel adding two more and an RBI off Sova.

Knocking in runners for the victors in a five-run second inning with singles were Lorenz, Sova, freshman Kristyn Turner and catcher Torrie Lowe, who is the only senior on the team. Junior Brittany Parritt knocked in two runners on her second single of the game in the third inning and sophomore Sierra Herter totaled four singles to lead the onslaught.

“Without a feeder our program suffers and it is a challenge with soccer drawing a lot of athletes,” stated Harrison. “Our girls have been resilient though all year and proud how they fought all the way in the second game as team chemistry is fantastic.”

Avoiding ending the game early in the nightcap Plainwell plated a pair of tallies in the fifth stanza with the second run scoring on the steal second with a runner on third play with one out.

“I wanted the stealer to be thrown out, but nothing on that play worked out and we also lost focus for two runs with a couple of errors,” explained Behnke.

Dowagiac will travel to Gull Lake on Tuesday and then host Otsego on Friday.

“Otsego has a very good pitcher at home next Friday so we definitely have work to do before getting ready for the district,” he noted.

First game
Plainwell 100 000 – 1 4 3
Dowagiac 240 041 – 11 16 3
Miranda East (W) and Torie Lowe; Denharder (L) and Kie
2B: Devon Ownby (D), Katie Lorenz (D)

Second game
Dowagiac 152 210 0 – 11 19 3
Plainwell 000 020 0 – 2 2 3
Tara Sova (W) and Torie Lowe; Denharder (L) and Kiel
2B: Lowe (D), Sova (D), Brittany Parritt (D)
Varsity record: Dowagiac 10-10 (6-4)

Edwardsburg Invitational
EDWARDSBURG – Host Edwardsburg was looking for a little revenge Saturday afternoon against Dowagiac, but they never got it.

The Chieftains, who swept the Eddies earlier in the season, won again as it captured the Edwardsburg Invitational with a 3-1 victory.

The Chieftains reached the title game with a 5-2 win over Jimtown, while the Eddies advanced to defeating Fennville 9-1.

In the championship game, Tara Sova (6-5) went the distance as she tossed a four-hitter with four strikeouts.

Victoria Hurst had a pair of hits for the Eddies.

Dowagiac also took advantage of four Edwardsburg errors.

Katie Lorenz had three hits for the Chieftains, who also got two hits from Sierra Herter.

Against Jimtown, Miranda East (6-5) struck out four and scattered six hits to earn the victory.

Devon Ownby had two hits, including a double and two RBIs, while Rachael Bailey also had two hits.

Torie Lowe added a double.

“We had our second best day of the season today with our best being the doubleheader earlier in the season against Edwardsburg,” Dowagiac coach Mike Behnke said. “We only made two errors on the day and they were on one play in the first inning of the championship game. Other than that, we played great defensively and even had two double plays and almost a triple play on the day.

“I was proud of all 10 of the girls because each one contributed in some way to the wins today.  This is the kind of softball we need to continue to play before heading into districts,” he added.

The Eddies scored nine runs on nine hits in their first game against Fennville.

Tackett and Ashley Wegner combined on a five-hitter.

Nicole Brooks had three hits including a double.

Tackett and Allison Koontz also added doubles.

First game
Jimtown 000 000 2 – 2 6 1
Dowagiac 050 000 x – 5 7 0
Miranda East (W, 6-5) and Torie Lowe
Shelby Kankel (L) and Brittany Fowler
2B: Lowe (D), Devon Ownby (D)

Second game
Edwardsburg 101 241 0 – 9 9 0
Fennville 000 000 1 – 1 5 3
Ashley Tackett (W), Ashley Wegner (5) and Deb Burton
Angel Pena (L) and Stephanie Durance
2B: Emily Turner (F), Nicole Brooks (E), Tackett (E), Allison Koontz (E)

Championship game
Dowagiac 100 200 x – 3 8 2
Edwardsburg 100 000 0 – 1 7 2
Tara Sova (W, 6-5) and Torie Lowe
Ashley Tackett (L) and Deb Burton
Varsity records: Dowagiac 12-10, Edwardsburg 18-8