Dowagiac baseball team splits with Otsego, swept by Buchanan

Published 2:51 am Monday, May 18, 2009

By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
It wasn't the outcome Dowagiac coach Bryan Henry wanted, but a split with host Otsego Friday night in less than ideal conditions keep the Chieftain varsity baseball team out in front in the Wolverine Conference.
Dowagiac remained a game up on the rest of the league as it lost the first game 5-4, but bounced back to win the nightcap 8-7.
The Chieftains had to hold off a seventh inning rally in the second game to earn the split.
In the first game, The Bulldogs grabbed a 3-0 lead after two innings of play, but Dowagiac came back in the third inning with three runs of its own to knot the score at 3-3.
Dowagiac took a 4-3 lead with a run in the fourth.
Otsego then scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to earn the win.
Tanner Melvin took the loss for the Chieftains.
Dowagiac finished with nine hits, led by Melvin, who doubled.
In the second game, Cody Cox improved to 5-1 with help from reliever Zac Hyatt, who came on in the sixth and picked up a save.
Dowagiac was outhit 10-6 on the contest, but used a three-run third and a five-run fifth to score its runs.
Otsego led 5-0 on the Chieftains after scoring a run in the second and four in the third.
Melvin had another double for the Chieftains.
On Saturday, Buchanan came to Dowagiac and swept the Chieftains in what was supposed to be the Bryan Frazier Memorial Tournament.
However, since Hartford had to drop out of the tournament to make up league games, the event became just a doubleheader between the two schools.
Buchanan got the best of the Chieftains both times, winning 4-3 in the first game and then blanking Dowagiac 10-0 in the nightcap to improve to 17-11 on the year.
The Chieftains dropped to 14-15 overall.
Tyler Powers laid down a perfect squeeze bunt in the top of the seventh to drive in the winning run for the Bucks in the first game.
Powers finished with two hits as Buchanan had 10 hits as a team.
Bryan Kuntz and David Sokolowski also had two hits.
Evan Cauffman picked up his third win of the season as he went the distance for the Bucks.
Melvin had a triple and a single for the Chieftains, while Alex Miller had two hits and an RBI. Brent O'Brien also had two hits.
In the second game, Buchanan scored four runs in both the second and third innings to turn the game into a rout.
The Bucks scored twice more in the sixth to end the game via the mercy rule.
Tyler Knisley improved to 7-2 on the year as he tossed a three-hitter.
Nate Henckel had a double and a single for Buchanan to go along with three RBIs.
Cauffman had two hits and two RBIs for the Bucks as well.
Jason Turner had two hits and Tim DeRyder the other single for the Chieftains.
First Game
Dowagiac 003 100 0 – 4 9 1
Otsego 030 002 x – 5 9 1
WP – Potter and Pendel
LP – Tanner Melvin, Zac Hyatt (6) and Jason Turner
2B: Melvin (D)
Second Game
Otsego 014 000 2 -7 10 2
Dowagiac 003 050 x – 8 6 5
WP – Cody Cox (5-1), Zac Haytt (6, Save) and Justin Gordy
LP – Klein and Pendel
2B: Tanner Melvin (D)
Varsity record: Dowagiac 9-5 Wolverine
First Game
Buchanan 001 120 1 – 4 10 0
Dowagiac 000 030 0 – 3 9 2
WP – Evan Cauffman (W, 3-4) and Brandon Jackson
LP – Aaron Blaske (1-3), Jason Turner (7) and Justin Gordy.
3B: Tanner Melvin (D)
Second Game
Buchanan 044 002 – 10 7 1
Dowagiac 000 000 – 0 3 6
WP – Tyler Knisley (W, 7-2) and Brandon Jackson
LP – Justin Gordy (0-3), Andrew Kurdelmeyer (5) and Jason Turner
2B: Nate Henckel (B).
Records: Buchanan 17-11, Dowagiac 14-15