By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – The Dowagiac varsity softball team may have played its best two games of the season on Monday as it swept visiting St. Joseph 3-2 and 10-2.
Third baseman Brittany Gnatz delivered the highlights in the opening game with a two-out, two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Dowagiac added a run in the fifth and then held on to defeat the Lady Bears.
St. Joseph had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, but could only get one run across the plate.
Freshmen Miranda East picked up the victory as she tossed a four-hitter with five stikeouts and just one walk.
The Chieftains (8-5) finished with four hits, including a pair from Gnatz. East added a triple.
In nightcap, St. Joseph jumped out to a 2-0 lead after an inning of play, but couldn't dent the scoreboard the remainder of the contest against freshman pitcher Tara Sova.
Dowagiac scored four runs in the third inning to take the lead and then added two in the fourth and four more in the sixth to account for its 10 runs.
The Chieftains finished with 10 hits in the second game, led by Gnatz, who was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. Sova was 2-for-3 with a double, while Torie Lowe and Tasia Diaz both finished with two hits. Lowe also drove in a pair of runs.
"We played much better softball tonight," Dowagiac coach Mike Behnke said. "We got great pitching and great base running and played good defense. We also got a timely two-run, two-out home run from Brittany in the first game.
"Our bats came alive in the second game after talking between games about putting the ball on the ground and force them to make plays. They also played their infield in the whole second game and we kept hitting hard ground balls past their infielders. We now have to focus on conference games (Plainwell and Gull Lake) the rest of the week if we want to stay in the hunt for a conference title."
First Game
St. Joseph 000 010 1 – 2 4 1
Dowagiac 000 210 x – 3 4 3
WP – Miranda East (D, 6-1) and Torie Lowe
LP – S. Helsley (L) and S. Cobb
3B: East (D)
HR: Brittany Gnatz (D)
Second game
St. Joseph 200 010 0 – 2 6 3
Dowagiac 004 204 x – 10 10 0
WP – Tara Sova (D, 3-4) and Lowe
LP – K. Mavis (L), S. Helsley, and A. Wittman
2B: Sova (D), Wittman (SJ)
3B: Mavis (SJ)
Record
Dowagiac 8-5