By By SCOTT NOVAK / Vigilant/Argus
The Cassopolis varsity softball team, winners of six of their last seven contests, will play in the Division 4 semifinals on Saturday at White Pigeon High School.
The Lady Rangers (9-15) will face the winner of the Colon-Burr Oak pre-district game held today.
Cassopolis will play at noon.
In Tuesday's other pre-district match up, Howardsville Christian will take on host White Pigeon. The winner advances to the semifinals against Centreville at 10 a.m.
The championship game is set for 2 p.m.
In baseball, the Rangers (10-15) will also face the Colon-Burr Oak pre-district winner at 10-a.m. Howardsville Christian and White Pigeon will play today with the winner advancing to face Centreville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The finals are scheduled for 3 p.m.
Division 2
If the Niles Vikings are going to unseat defending champion St. Joseph, they are going to have to do it in the championship game.
St. Joseph (29-6) are ranked No. 7 in Division 2. The Bears defeated Dowagiac (11-20) in Stevensville at Lakeshore High School on Tuesday, 2-0.
The winner advances to Saturday's semifinals against defending Division 3 district champion Edwardsburg at 10 a.m.
The Vikings, who lost a pair of games to St. Joseph in the regular season, will take on Lakeshore in the second semifinal on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The Vikings (21-8) swept Lakeshore in the regular season 5-0 and 14-3.
Matt Richardson is the Vikings' top pitcher with a perfect 6-0 record and an earned run average of 0.98.
Offensively the Vikings are led by Lyle Watson who is hitting .452 with six home runs and 31 RBIs. Cory Coquillard is hitting .410 with five home runs and 26 RBIs, while Steve Clanton is hitting .420.
St. Joseph is led by Paul Bell who is hitting .344 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. The Bears' top pitcher is Derek Bross who is 8-0 with an ERA of 2.37.
The Eddies are led by pitcher Zac Rooney who, is 8-1 with an ERA 1.81 and Jesse Johnson, who is hitting .438 with six home runs and 29 RBIs.
Softball
Niles received a bye and will take on defending Division 2 state champion Lakeshore at 10 a.m.
The Lady Vikings are 10-23 on the season. Niles dropped a pair of decisions to Lakeshore during the regular season.
Dowagiac blanked St. Joseph 9-0 on Tuesday in the pre-district contest held in Stevensville at Lakeshore High School.
The Chieftains, ranked No. 6 in Division 2, has defeated every team in the tournament twice with the exception of Edwardsburg (16-13), which they have not faced. The Eddies will take on the winner of the Dowagiac-St. Joseph contest on Saturday at noon.