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BERRIEN SPRINGS — The Dowagiac softball team took care of business against Berrien Springs Tuesday night and made history in the process.

The Chieftains swept the Shamrocks 10-0 and 23-0 [three innings] to earn the Lakeland Conference Championship, the team’s first conference title since 2007.

“I’ve told the girls all year long that our first goal this year was to be conference champs,” said Dowagiac Coach Mike Behnke. “We haven’t done it since 2007. We’ve had a lot of second places back in the Wolverine and even in Lakeland now and I feel good for them. They’re the ones who have worked hard since they were nine years old, and now they’re starting to reap the rewards of all the work they put in over the years.”

“It feels great,” added Dowagiac junior Marlie Carpenter. “That was our number one goal this year. We’ve been working really hard at practice and you can tell out on the field. We’re all together and we’ve been playing very well this year.”

Claire Hess had three hits and two RBI in game one and Marlie Carpenter added two hits and two RBI while Bree Behnke and Bree Campbell each had one hit and two RBI. Campbell struck out 13 batters and gave up just one hit in game one to pick up the win.

Berrien Springs’ Olivia Spenner struck out four and gave up eight hits and seven earned runs in the loss. 

“We really just came out here knowing that this was a big game for us,” Carpenter said. “We knew it’s not going to be an easy game and we have to work very hard. The bats were a little bit slow at the beginning but once we got rolling we were good to go.”

In game two, the Chieftains scored nine runs in the first inning and seven in the third and fourth innings. Addison Wilson and Carpenter each had a home run, with Wilson having three RBI and Carpenter four. Hess had one hit and three RBI and Charleigh Reed, Olivia McIntosh, Behnke, Campbell and Henry each tallying one hit and two RBI. Rebecca Guernsey totaled two hits.

Wilson picked up the win on the mound with two strikeouts and one hit. Brianna Wolf picked up the loss for the Shamrocks with one strikeout, 13 earned runs and five hits in one inning. Laila Jackson gave up eight earned runs and six hits in two innings while striking out one batter.

“At the plate, we made adjustments,” Behnke said. “Their first pitcher actually does pretty well. She’s got a little bit of spin and located it pretty good. We just made small adjustments to get better pitches. In the second game, we worked on staying back and letting the ball come to us instead of chasing the ball and getting way out in front of it. Defensively, that’s what we did and then with our pitching, both Bree and then Addie in the second game pitched well, threw strikes, and we played good defense behind them.”

The Chieftains are now 24-2 on the season and winners of eight straight. 

“Each day, we celebrate the wins,” she said. “We take it day by day. We’re not looking ahead, we’re just looking at the next day and the next thing to come and we’re just overcoming the tasks. It’s been challenging but the hard work’s been paying off.”

While proud of the team’s achievements thus far, Behnke and Carpenter are aiming for more. They will face a good test this weekend in Edwardsburg and Vicksburg – two teams in their postseason district – at the Gull Lake Tournament.

“It’s gonna take great pitching, timely hitting and great defense because those are the two ‘Burgs,” Behnke said. “Those are two quality softball programs and they’ve won a lot of districts and regionals. Vicksburg’s been to the state championship the last two years. We’ve got to put it all together. We’re on to our next goal to be district champs, now.”

“We just need to keep it up at practice and keep working on the basics,” Carpenter said. “It really comes down to the little things and what you show on the field, not getting down on yourself and just picking each other up and staying confident in the field.”