TRAVERSE CITY-Indian River Inland Lakes got the better of the Rogers City softball team again.

But boy did the Hurons go down fighting.

Rogers City rallied from an 8-0 deficit and fought back to make it 8-7 before falling to the Bulldogs in a Division 4 quarterfinal on Tuesday in Traverse City.

The Hurons loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning and looked poised to take a walk-off victory, but the Bulldogs survived the rally. Kayla Rabeau flew out to right field for the second out, but the Hurons weren’t able to advance the tying run home. With the bases still loaded, Sarah Meredith grounded back to the pitcher for the final out.

It was a sudden and stinging ending for the Hurons (29-12) who fell behind 8-0 after four and a half innings, rallied back with a big inning of their own and in the end came up short by the slimmest of margins. A victory would’ve clinched the Hurons’ third trip to the semifinals in four seasons.

“It stings a little. We really battled back hard and came up a little short,” Rogers City coach Karl Grambau said. “Give credit to Inland Lakes, they move on, but we were down 8-0 and battled back and had a chance to not only tie it, but win it. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Meredith hit a home run in the sixth inning to make it 8-7 and the Bulldogs went quietly in the bottom of the inning to send the Hurons up one last time. With one out, Ally Streich singled and Megan Brege slapped a ball to left field to put a pair of runners on. Jayna Hance followed with a walk to load the bases, but the Hurons ultimately left all three runners on board.

In the early going, the game seemed to mirror Rogers City’s loss to the Bulldogs in last year’s regional final: Inland Lakes pitcher Cloe Mallory was in control, the Hurons couldn’t hit and the Bulldogs were outhitting Rogers City.

Mallory dominated the Hurons early, striking out seven of the first nine batters she faced and nine through the first three innings. She helped her own cause in the third inning, launching a two-run home run to center field to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead, only two batters after Pamela Braund hit a solo shot.

The hot hitting continued for Inland Lakes in the top of the fifth inning as the Bulldogs added five more runs, all with two outs. Makayla Henckel had a two-run single and Sydney DePauw, Mara Clancy and Braund followed with RBI hits.

“We didn’t want to fall down that far (and) we were a bit surprised they scored as many as they did on us,” Grambau said. “But at the same time, I was really happy that we didn’t fold or anything, we battled right back.”

After managing just two hits through four innings, Rogers City’s fortunes changed in the bottom of the fifth inning during a meltdown that nearly cost the Bulldogs the lead. The Bulldogs made two errors early in the inning and Meredith began the Hurons’ rally by singling home Streich to make it 8-1. The next batter, Hannah Fleming appeared to be out on a dropped third strike. After a quick review, Fleming was ruled to have hit a foul ball, extending her at-bat. On the next pitch, she drove the ball into center field, scoring two runs and Taylor Fleming followed with an RBI double.

“We started to putting a little pressure on them and I think the key is, you’ve got to put the ball in play and put runners on base. We put some pressure on them and made some things happen,” Grambau said. “That’s softball, it’s never over til it’s over and I’m really proud of our girls.”

The wheels continued to fall off for the Bulldogs as Rogers City’s next three batters were hit by Mallory, loading the bases with one out. Inland Lakes managed to escape the jam with a pair of fly balls, but after five innings, an 8-0 lead became an 8-6 lead.

Mallory finished with 12 strikeouts, walked three and hit three batters.

Hance pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Hurons before being relieved by Hannah Fleming. Hance allowed eight runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Fleming allowed one hit, struck out one and walked one in relief.

Meredith had two hits and two RBI for the Hurons and Megan Brege also had two hits. Hannah Fleming had a hit and two RBI.

Inland Lakes advances to a semifinal on Friday against Holton.

Despite the loss, Grambau said the year was a success, especially after the Hurons had a postseason that included district and regional titles.

“This stings a little bit right now and we feel sad, but when we look back at the whole season, we’re going to feel pretty proud of ourselves,” Grambau said. “We’ve got a conference championship, a district championship and a regional championship. There’s a lot of teams that would love to have something like that.”