Grosse Pointe little league

Grosse Pointe players celebrate a series of runs during their state quarterfinals game against Huron East Knothole on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 in Tecumseh. Katy Kildee | MLive.com

TECUMSEH - Bryan Carney gave his Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores teammates four shutout innings Wednesday before a rare rule check took him off the mound.

The ace struck out 11 Dexter batters and allowed two hits heading into the fifth inning. He would have continued if it wasn't for a Michigan little league rule prohibiting a pitcher from returning to the mound after being pinch-hit for twice.

Head coach Bill Babcock wasn't aware of the rule, but his relief pitchers held on to preserve Carney's win and the team's spot in Thursday's 2016 state championship game.

"That was my fault, I screwed up," Babcock said following Grosse Pointe's 5-3 win at Mitchell Park in Tecumseh. "I'm just glad it didn't cost us; I would have hated if we lost because of a mistake I made ... Bryan pitched outstanding. He's our horse and we ride him to the finish line whenever we can."

While Carney was mowing through the Dexter lineup, his teammates gave him run support in the second and fourth innings.

Matthew Greene knocked in the first run of the game, sending home Chyran Humphries who got on base with a double. A wild pitch extended the team's lead to two runs before a pair of strikeouts by Dexter's Collin Parachek ended the inning.

In the fourth, Parachek gave up a single and two walks to load the bases before being relieved by Joey Tessmer. Grosse Pointe took advantage of an early wild pitch by Tessmer, and followed it with a two-run double by Jake Tedesco to make it 5-0.

Dexter struggled to get anything going offensively until the sixth inning when it began to rally.

"It's never easy with Dexter," Bill Babcock said. "I know their coaches; they're coached well, they're excellent players and there is no quit with them. Did you think we'd have a 1-2-3 final inning? I didn't think so."

Parachek got Dexter on the board with a two-run homer, followed immediately by a solo shot from Tessmer. With the team finally gaining momentum, Shay Ohtonen and Jonathan Rosevelt each singled to bring Ty Rychener to the plate.

Representing the go-ahead run, Rychener stepped in but relief pitcher Daniel Vogler got him out with a game-ending strikeout.

Following the win, Grosse Pointe advances to the championship game, where it'll meet Essexville-Hampton at 11 a.m. Thursday at Mitchell Park.

"They won the state as 10-year-olds and we won as 11s," Babcock said. "I can't imagine a better matchup. We've seen them here and they have outstanding players. It'll be a great little league baseball game."