By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
It was championship Saturday at Russom Field for Dowagiac Little League baseball and softball.
Championships were decided in Minor and Major Softball, as well as Minor and Major Baseball.
Major Softball
The Sandlot Sluggers defeated the Blue Thunder in the championship game on Saturday, 13-12.
The Sandlot Sluggers built up a 13-10 lead and then held off a late rally by the Blue Thunder to take home the championship.
Shelby Bruens and Alex Carey shared the pitching duties for the Sanlot Sluggers, while Taylor Meiser was the pitcher for the Blue Thunder.
Dominique Hood, Sarah Haley and Bruens all had two hits for the Sluggers, while Cheyenne Hilton and Lacey Strunk added hits.
Meiser and Abbi Gnatz each had two hits for the Thunder.
Also picking up hits for the Blue Thunder were Amanda Hassle, Lindsey Smith, Heather Matthews, Courtney Klann and Sarah Hassle.
The Sluggers also defeated the Warriors, 13-11, and the Red Devils, 12-9, to reach the finals.
Against the Warriors, Hood and Bruens each had two hits, while Carey added a hit.
Taylor Gross, Lexy Rank and Hood shared the pitching duties. Brittany Parritt was the pitcher for the Warriors.
Parritt and Andrea Sanchez had hits for the Warriors.
Against the Red Devils, Hood and Jessica Waldschmidt both had two hits.
Sarah Haley, Rank, Bruens, Gross and Hilton also had hits.
Bruens was the pitcher for the Slammers.
Rachel Bailey, Alyssa Fritz and Erin Stanton all had two hits for the Red Devils.
Kiele Belew and Fritz handled the pitching duties for the Red Devils.
Minor Baseball
The River Cats defeated the Timber Rattlers, 15-9, to win the Minor Baseball championship on Saturday.
The River Cats scored four times in the bottom of the fifth to break open the close contest.
The Timber Rattlers rallied for a run in the top of the sixth, but could not catch the River Cats.
A pair of double plays by Trey Morgan secured the victory for the River Cats, who also got outstanding outfield play by Kenneth Creameans.
Jordan Hagemann and Morgan each had four hits for the River Cats.
Brandon Hatch finished with three hits as did Anthony Burling.
Dalton Smith and Creameans both finished with two hits.
No hitting totals were provided for the Timber Rattlers.
In reaching the finals the River Cats defeated the Iron Birds, 22-4, and the Silver Hawks 14-6.
The win over the Iron Birds in the semifinals avenged a pair of regular season losses to the squad by the River Cats.
Morgan had five hits, while Brandon Hatch, Jared Hatch and Burling ll had four hits. The River Cats also got three hits from Hagemann and two hits each from Smith, Alex Payne and Dylan Payne.
Brandon Hatch had two inside-the-park home runs to lead the River Cats against the Silver Hawks.
Major Baseball
The Reds defeated the A's 8-4 to capture the Major Baseball championship on Saturday.
Darius Wilson and Chris Gantt shared the pitching duties.
Dontel Wilson had three hits for the Reds, while Hazen McMeeken, Jacob Williams and Zach Guernsey all had two hits.
No totals were provided for the A's.
In the semifinals the Reds defeated the Diamondbacks, 10-3.
Williams, Darius Wilson and Gantt worked on the mound for the Reds.
McMeeken had two of the Reds' six hits.
Also picking up hits were Williams, Dontel Wilson, Darius Wilson, Gantt, Ryan Dyke, Gaige Grant, Guernsey, Aaron Pierce and John Wilson.
No results were provided for the Diamondbacks.
In the first game of the tournament, the Reds defeated the Cubs, 10-5.
McMeeken, Darius Wilson and Gantt shared pitching duties.
No results were provided for the Cubs.