By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – Visiting Mishawaka brought a veteran varsity softball team to Dowagiac on Thursday and walked away with a pair of shutouts.
The Cavemen blanked the Chieftains 12-0 in five innings in the opening game and then took an 8-0 victory in the second contest.
"Our young team was a little overmatched tonight by a Mishawaka team that has seven seniors," Dowagiac coach Mike Behnke said. "They had nine girls that could hit the ball and our freshmen pitchers found that out quickly. We actually played a decent second game and when we got runners on we got them in scoring position, but just couldn't get that timely hit to get them in.
In the opening game, Sarah Oppelt and Ashley Johnson both jacked home runs. The pair also doubled, as did Jen Alter.
Dowagiac ended up with five hits off of Shelby Jones (6-1), including doubles by Stephanie Grabemeyer and Devon Ownby.
Grabemeyer also singled.
Miranda East suffered her first loss of the season as she allowed 10 earned runs on 14 hits with three strikeouts.
In the second game, the Chieftains were only able to manage a double from Tasia Diaz off of winning pitcher Sarah Scanlon (8-0).
Tara Sova took the loss for the Chieftains and is now 1-4 on the season. Sova allowed just three earned runs on five hits.
"I thought Tara did a great job of keeping their batters off balance," Behnke said. "She really only made one bad pitch all night and it cost her two runs and our defense let her down. But only giving up five hits to that team is quite an accomplishment."
First Game
Mishawaka 323 22 – 12 14 0
Dowagiac 000 00 – 0 5 3
WP – Shelby Jones (M, 6-1) and Rebekah Nelson
LP – Miranda East (D, 4-1) and Torie Lowe
2B: Sarah Oppelt (M), Ashley Johnson (M), Jen Alter (M), Stephanie Grabemeyer (D), Devon Ownby (D)
HR: Oppelt (M), Johnson (M)
Second Game
Mishawaka 003 203 0 – 8 5 2
Dowagiac 000 00 0 – 0 1 6
WP – Sarah Scanlon (M, 8-0) and Rebekah Nelson
LP – Tara Sova (D, 1-4) and Torie Lowe
2B: Scanlon (M), Tasia Diaz (D)
Records
Mishawaka 14-1, Dowagiac 5-5