By By DON EDEN / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The Niles baseball diamond had a gem of a matchup with the No. 6 ranked Vikings hosting No. 7 Lakeshore in a Big 16 Conference West Division contest.
Senior Nick Wheeler (6-0) pitched a six-hit and five strikeout complete game in the opener as the Lancers won 3-0 and junior Zak Wasserman (4-0) followed the lead of his teammate with a two hitter and the same number of strikeouts as the visitors swept Niles by winning 5-1 in the nightcap.
"The pitching was outstanding for us tonight to stop Niles who is a good hitting team," Lakeshore coach Mark Nate noted. "This is great to get a sweep but we haven't solved anything yet."
Junior Mike Simpson of Niles pitched out of trouble with eight runners left on the basepaths in his six innings of work but the Lancers crossed the plate a single time in only the first two innings.
Wheeler twice had Viking (18-7, 3-3) runners on second and third base and was fortunate to escape as senior D.J. Wolnik sent a missle shot that the pitcher snagged and a controversial call at first base saved another.
Senior Alex Welch and junior Andrew Brawley started the seventh inning with singles and junior Alec Taylor was out at first base as he appeared to be safe.
"It was close either way and it was a judgment call but it needs to be made right away instead of having a discussion," explained Niles coach Mike Vota. "It looked like he was safe but we just didn't get the big hits when we needed them in either game."
Nate also agreed it was a key play and observed, "it was a close play and tough to tell but he might have been safe if he didn't slide."
Wasserman, junior Tim Newman and sophomore Zane Metz each had a pair of singles in the first game to lead Lakeshore with Brawley achieving the same feat for the Vikings.
Niles took their only lead in the twinbill when they scored their only run in the second inning of the second game without the benefit of a hit. Junior Asaad Ali started with a walk and moved slowly around the basepaths on a hit by pitch, sacrifice bunt and error by shortstop.
Lakeshore (19-4, 6-0) quickly answered in the top of the third as they scored four runs (3 earned) off senior Zach Bloss on a quartet of hits and an error. Metz and senior William Harrington had back to back doubles on consecutive pitches to lead the Lancers.
The first hit off Wasserman came off the bat of Brawley in the fourth inning as he was rewarded with a double down the left field line. Bloss had the other hit the following stanza when he hit the third base bag.
It was Wheeler's sixth complete game of the season with Wasserman finishing off the entire contest for the initial time.
"Lakeshore is a good team that hit better than us today and the pitchers have a good idea of what they what to do in the strike zone," voiced Vota. "This was the last home game for the seniors who have worked hard but the season is not over with a lot of important games yet to play."
First Game
Lakeshore 110 000 1 – 3 9 0
Niles 000 000 0 – 0 6 4
WP – Nick Wheeler (L, 6-0) and Adam Miller
LP – Mikie Simpson (N, 3-2), D.J. Wolnik (7) and Dan Holland
Second Game
Lakeshore 004 010 0 – 5 12 3
Niles 010 000 0 – 1 2 2
WP – Zak Wasserman (L, 4-0) and Adam Miller
Zach Bloss (N, 4-1), Nick Hartman (5) and Dan Holland
2B: Zane Metz (L), Will Harrington (L), Andrew Brawley (N)
Records
Lakeshore 19-4, 6-0 SMAC West Division; Niles 18-7, 3-3 SMAC West Division