Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

DOWAGIAC — Matt Ferry’s suicide squeeze in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Berrien Springs squeak out a 3-2 Division 2 district quarterfinal win over Dowagiac Tuesday at Dean Hagen Field. 

It was a heartbreaking end for seventh-year Dowagiac coach Keith Schreiber and his Chieftains, who finished the season 9-18. 

Berrien Springs advances to Saturday’s 10 a.m. district semifinal against Niles back at Dean Hagen Field. St. Joseph meets Stevensville-Lakeshore in the other semifinal at 12:30 p.m. The finals will follow at 3 p.m.

Dowagiac grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when sophomore courtesy runner Will Sanders scored on Justin Feirick’s RBI single. 

Berrien Springs scored twice in the bottom half of the second to grab a 2-1 advantage. Eli Rospierski scored on a throwing error at third and Ferry raced home on another Dowagiac error.

Jamal Williams singled with two outs and later scored on an error to help Dowagiac tie the game up at 2-2 after the top of the sixth. 

Berrien Springs loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. The Shamrocks’ Micah McFarland attempted to steal home but was tagged out by Chieftains’ catcher Caiden Freeman ending the frame. 

Berrien Springs retired the Dowagiac side in the top of the seventh. 

In the bottom half of the seventh, Rospierski walked, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Larsen Kibler before scoring the winning run on Ferry’s sacrifice-bunt. 

Junior Cole Wimberley started on the mound for Dowagiac and went the first 6 1/3 innings allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and five walks. He pitched himself out of a jam by striking out the side after allowing the first two Shamrock  baserunners on during the third inning. He also ended another Berrien Springs scoring threat by striking out two of the final three Dowagiac hitters in the fifth.  

“Cole pitched a real outstanding baseball game. They scored a couple runs without getting a hit off him. He had a real nice year, emerging early as our No. 1 pitcher and he earned All-Conference for us. He made a big jump from last year when we used him  mainly as a reliever. He’s a competitor and finds a way to get himself our of jams,” Schreiber said. 

Braden Gillesby was charged with the loss for Dowagiac in relief of Wimberley. 

Berrien Springs’ Ferry was credited with the victory in relief of Ethan McCrary. McCrary tossed the first five innings allowing five hits with six strikeouts. Ferry gave up just two hits and had one strikeout. 

The game boiled down to too many missed opportunities for Dowagiac. 

The Chieftains had the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning with no outs and came up empty on the scoreboard. 

Dowagiac stranded a total of nine baserunners on the day. 

“That was the story of the game today. We had opportunities with guys on base and couldn’t bring them around to score,” Schreiber said. 

Other bright spots on the season included freshman infielder Aiden Voorhees occupied the No. 3 spot in Dowagiac’s batting order. 

“We knew coming into the season that Aiden could play varsity baseball, we just weren’t sure how big of a role he’d play. He stepped up right away,” Schreiber noted.

Also playing big roles throughout the season were Freeman, a sophomore, at catcher, along with starting sophomore centerfielder Riley McCaffery. 

“Riley was a very good defensive player for us in the outfield,” Schreiber said. 

The game was the final one in the careers of Dowagiac’s six seniors Chase Frazier, Kaleb Smith, Williams, Gillesby, Hayden Groth and Tyler Hannapel.

“Most of our seniors have been with us for three years. They are three-sport athletes and they know how to compete. This was an athletic and fun group to coach,” Schreiber said. “The future is bright with us returning half of our roster next season.”

Division 2 Baseball Districts

(at Dowagiac)

Dowagiac 010 001 0 – 2 7 3

Berrien Springs 020 000 1 – 3 5 1

Matt Ferry (W); Gillesby (LP)

Dowagiac hits: Wimberley 2, McCaffery 2, Groth, Williams, Smith.