By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
ALLENDALE - It was over in an instant.
One of the greatest seasons in Dowagiac softball history ended abruptly when courtesy runner Jordan Irwin scored with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch.
Top-ranked Wyoming Rogers nipped No. 4 ranked Dowagiac, 1-0 in nine innings in the Division 2 quarterfinals held at Grand Valley State University.
Dowagiac bows out of the tournament with a 34-5 overall record. Tuesday was only the second time Dowagiac had every reached the quarterfinals in school history.
Wyoming Rogers improved to 39-2 and will now play Richmond (33-5) at 10:30 a.m. at Bailey Park in Battle Creek.
Mt. Pleasant (34-5) will take on Trenton (24-17) in the second semifinal scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
The winners will advance to the Division 2 championship on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Neither team was able to mount much of an offensive threat in the contest, however, Wyoming Rogers got a lead-off triple from Amber Huffman in the bottom of the ninth to start the winning rally.
Dowagiac coach Mike Behnke called time and went to the mound to hold a meeting with his infield.
Behnke decided to issue back-to-back intentional walks to load the bases with nobody out.
Senior pitcher Brittney Reist struck out the next batter and following a ground ball back to Reist which she flipped to senior catcher Mandy Parish for a force out, Dowagiac was just one out away from working out of the jam.
But the second pitch to Jessica Irwin sailed over the head of Parish and hit the backstop, bouncing away allowing Jordan Irwin to score the game winner.
Wyoming Rogers, which lost to Lakeshore in the 2004 quarterfinals, 1-0, left four runners on base, including three in scoring position.
Dowagiac left two runners on base and never advanced a runner past second.
Lady Golden Hawks pitcher Krysten Bandstra (21-1) dominated the Chieftain hitters, striking out 11 and walking just one.
Parish and junior Amy Wood had the two hits for Dowagiac.
Reist (17-3) was equally impressive on the mound as she tossed a four-hitter with seven strike outs and two intentional walks.
Besides Huffman's triple, Wyoming Rogers got a double from Christy Vukovich.
Both teams played well defensively. Dowagiac committed the game's lone error in the first inning when Wyoming Rogers put runners at first and second with two outs.
Despite the disappointing finish, Behnke said that his squad had a tremendous season and without the help of Reist and Parish the past four years, the program would not have reached the quarterfinals.
Division 2
Quarterfinals
Grand Valley State University
Allendale
Dowagiac 000 000 000 - 0 2 1
Rogers 000 000 001 - 1 4 0
Brittney Reist (L, 17-3), Krysten Bandstra (W, 21-1)
2B: Christy Vukovich (WR)
3B: Amber Huffman (WR)
Varsity records: Dowagiac 34-5, Wyoming Rogers 39-2