By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
An eight-run fifth inning spelled doom for the Dowagiac All-Star team Sunday afternoon at Russom Fields.
Harper Woods remained alive in the tournament with a 15-5 victory over Dowagiac in the consolation quarterfinals.
Harper Woods, which now faces Grand Rapids Southern in today's final game, led the entire contest after scoring two runs in the third inning.
The flood gates opened in the fifth as Harper Woods scored eight times on a combination of hits, errors and walks.
A grand slam home run propelled Harper Woods in the consolation semifinals.
Dowagiac cut the lead to 10-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning, but would get no closer as Harper Woods scored two times with two outs in the sixth and then added three more runs in the seventh.
Chris Peters picked up the mound victory for Harper Woods, which finished with 12 hits.
Tim Tibaudo had a home run and two singles, while Cullen had a home run and a single. Harper Woods also got two hits each from Blake Smith and Tony Fazi.
Jordan Huey took the loss for Dowagiac.
Dowagiac had seven hits in its season finale and eight errors.
Kyle Prak had a double. Mike Kasper finished two hits. Also picking up hits were Matt Dodson, Tyler First, Huey and DJ Edgerly.
The winner of tonight's consolation semifinal will play in the consolation finals on Monday at 6 p.m.
Game 10
Harper Woods 002 082 3 - 15 12 2
Dowagiac 000 050 0 - 5 8
Chris Peterson (W), Jordan Huey (L)
2B: Kyle Prak (D)
HR: Nick Cullen (HW), Tim Tibaudo (HW)
Midland…7
Southern…9
Grand Rapids Southern withstood a late rally by Midland Sunday afternoon to remain alive in the Michigan Senior Baseball State Tournament at Russom Fields in Dowagiac.
Midland jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a half inning of play only to have Grand Rapids Southern rally for two runs in the third, four in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 9-5 lead into the seventh inning.
However, Midland rallied for two runs in the top half of the seventh. Midland also had the tying and winning run in scoring position before Grand Rapids was able to record the final out to advance to tonight's consolation semifinal against the winner of the Dowagiac-Harper Woods contest which began at 3 p.m.
Grand Rapids finished with 12 hits, including a home run from Matt Malewitz and a double from Chris Brouwer. Luke Glendening, Zach Lewis and Chris Feys all had two hits.
Kyle Schepel was the winning pitcher for Southern.
Midland, which is eliminated from the tournament, finished with seven hits, led by Matt Lane's double. A.J. D'olivera took the loss for Midland.
The winner of tonight's consolation semifinal will play at 6 p.m. on Monday against the loser of the the championship semifinal between Eastwood and West Branch. That game will be played at 3 p.m.
The championship game is slated for Tuesday at 3 p.m. If a second championship game is needed it will be played at 6 p.m.
Game 9
Midland 500 000 2 - 7 7 4
Southern 002 430 x - 9 12 4
Kyle Schepel (W), A.J.D'olivera (L)
2B: Lane (M), Brouwer (S)
HR: Malewitz (S)