Dowagiac All-Stars ousted by Harper Woods

Published 4:53 am Monday, August 1, 2005

By By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News
An eight-run fifth inning spelled doom for the Dowagiac All-Star team Sunday afternoon at Russom Fields.
Harper Woods remained alive in the tournament with a 15-5 victory over Dowagiac in the consolation quarterfinals.
Harper Woods, which now faces Grand Rapids Southern in today's final game, led the entire contest after scoring two runs in the third inning.
The flood gates opened in the fifth as Harper Woods scored eight times on a combination of hits, errors and walks.
A grand slam home run propelled Harper Woods in the consolation semifinals.
Dowagiac cut the lead to 10-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning, but would get no closer as Harper Woods scored two times with two outs in the sixth and then added three more runs in the seventh.
Chris Peters picked up the mound victory for Harper Woods, which finished with 12 hits.
Tim Tibaudo had a home run and two singles, while Cullen had a home run and a single. Harper Woods also got two hits each from Blake Smith and Tony Fazi.
Jordan Huey took the loss for Dowagiac.
Dowagiac had seven hits in its season finale and eight errors.
Kyle Prak had a double. Mike Kasper finished two hits. Also picking up hits were Matt Dodson, Tyler First, Huey and DJ Edgerly.
The winner of tonight's consolation semifinal will play in the consolation finals on Monday at 6 p.m.
Harper Woods 002 082 3 - 15 12 2
Dowagiac 000 050 0 - 5 8
Chris Peterson (W), Jordan Huey (L)
2B: Kyle Prak (D)
HR: Nick Cullen (HW), Tim Tibaudo (HW)
Gladstone…4
Dowagiac…5
Dowagiac rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to remain alive in the state tournament.
Dowagiac's Keith Prak delivered a two-out, two-run doubles to drive in the tying and winning runs.
Gladstone looked to be on its way to surviving another day when it scored a run in the top half of the seventh inning.
However, Dowagiac's Matt Dodson singled to begin the comeback. Dodson was replaced by pinch runner Nick File, who stole second. Two outs later, File looked as if he was going to be tagged out heading to third, however, he was called safe after it looked like the Gladstone third baseman missed him on two attempts.
Meanwhile, Troy Stover was safe on a fielder's choice.
With File at third and Stover at second, Prak laced a ball down toward the left field corner which just eluded the Gladstone outfielder's glove allowing File to score and Stover a chance reach home safely.
A strong relay was not enough as Stover dove head first into home plate to give Dowagiac the victory.
Jason Fryman picked up the victory in relief of Dodson.
Dowagiac had just five hits off of Gladstone's Kyle Smith.
Jordan Huey had an RBI double, while Jake Cox also drove in a run with a single.
Gladstone led 2-1 before Dowagiac scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
A solo home run by Gladstone's Kevin Thompson knotted the score at 3-3 in the top of the sixth.
Smith added a double for Gladstone, which finished with seven hits.
Gladstone 010 011 1 - 4 7 2
Dowagiac 001 020 2 - 5 5 5
Jason Fryman (W), Kyle Smith (L)
2B: Smith (G), Huey (D), Keith Prak (D)
HR: Thompson (G)
Dowagiac…2
Southern…5
Grand Rapids Southern rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score five runs over two innings to defeat Dowagiac in the final game of the opening day of the Michigan Senior Baseball State Tournament held at Russom Fields.
Dowagiac grabbed a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and fourth innings.
Grand Rapids used a couple of Dowagiac miscues and some timely hitting to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Southern added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to complete the scoring.
Matt Malewitz settled down after a shakey start, which included a bases loaded walk in the second inning, to pick up the victory for Grand Rapids.
Chris Brower came off the bench to stroke a run-scoring double for the game's only extra base hit.
Luke Glendening, Pat Schuiteman and Eric DeBoer added singles.
Jake Cox took the loss for Dowagiac. Matt Dodson came on in the sixth and finished for Dowagiac, which will take on Gladstone on Saturday at noon.
Dowagiac managed just three hits, all singles. Dodson, Cox and Nick File all reached base.
Dowagiac 010 100 0 - 2 3 5
Southern 000 032 x - 5 5 1
Matt Malewitz (W), Jake Cox (L)
2B: Chris Brower (GR)