WEST BRANCH - July 26, 2005 - The quarterfinal round of the Little League age 9-10 state finals featured three captivating games out of four contests played Tuesday night, with Western Little League's Michell Gumowski providing the most memorable moment of the tournament thus far.

Western (Grand Rapids) trailed Midland Northeast, considered by many to be a tournament favorite, 8-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Western still trailed 8-7 when Gumowski came to the plate with runners on second and third. The result: Gumowski was able to live Little Leaguer's dream, ripping a three-run walk-off home run over the left-center field fence for a 10-8 victory.

Western advances to Wednesday's 4:00 p.m. state semifinal against Roosevelt Park, which won its own dramatic contest against St. Clair on Tuesday. Roosevelt Park built an 8-4 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth, but saw its tourney run threatened when St. Clair rallied with three runs in the bottom of the frame and had the bases loaded. A spectacular diving catch in left field prevented St. Clair from scoring the winning runs, though it resulted in a sacrifice fly that forced extra innings. Roosevelt Park scored seven times in the eighth inning for a 15-8 victory.

In Tuesday's second set of games, Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores held off a late rally by Niles for a 6-3 victory. Niles trailed 6-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth but scored twice and had the tying run on base before finally going down.

In the only game of the night without a dramatic finish, Taylor Northwest broke a scoreless tie with a seven-run third and rolled to an 11-3 victory over Tecumseh. The game was notable for Taylor's near-perfect defensive performance.

Grosse Pointe and Taylor face off in the 7:00 semifinal at West Branch's Wilcox Park.