The Great Lakes Loons celebrate after clinching their first trip to the Midwest League Championship Series. (Great Lakes Loons photo)

The Great Lakes Loons rallied late to beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 5-2 Tuesday to advance to their first Midwest League Championship Series.

For much of the game, it looked like it would be West Michigan’s night. Starting pitcher Kyle Dowdy took a no-hitter into the 6th inning, and the Whitecaps had a 2-0 lead at the start of the 7th inning.

But then the Great Lakes offense awakened. The Loons scored once in the 7th, twice in the 8th, and twice in the 9th, all as their bullpen kept the Whitecaps’ bats at bay. Brendon Davis went 3-for-5 with a stolen base and a run batted in. Omar Estevez hit a two-run homer in the 9th.

The Loons now head to Clinton, where they will face the LumberKings in the league finals beginning Wednesday night. Clinton beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the Western Division finals to reach the championship series. Interestingly, the Kernels and the Whitecaps — the two teams that lost in the division finals this year — played against each other in last year’s Midwest League Championship Series, with West Michigan coming out on top.

I’ll be at the Midwest League finals, so make sure to check this website each night for my write-up with photos of each game.