By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Today the Niles All-Stars will learn if they will advance to the Central States Regional semifinals.
Niles comes into today's game against Wisconsin at 5:30 p.m. (Michigan time) with an unblemished 3-0 record and having outscored its opponents 31-3.
Least number of runs allowed is one criteria for deciding who will finish in what position if teams finish pool play with identical records.
On Monday afternoon the All-Stars remained undefeated with a 7-3 victory over Ohio.
Ohio grabbed a 1-0 lead on a home run in the second inning.
Niles rallied to tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the third and then scored four times in the fourth to open up a 4-1 lead.
Ohio cut the lead to 4-3 with runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
The All-Stars scored three times in the seventh inning to secure the victory.
"We expected that there would be one team out there that would give us a good game," Niles coach Bill Coar said. "I am glad we saw them. We needed this."
Hot and humid temperatures compiled with a long day on Sunday left Niles a bit tired, Coar added.
"The heat index was like 110 degrees," he said. "Everyone was a bit tired and I think the heat had something to do with that."
Niles didn't hit the ball as well as it had been, but still finished with 11 against Ohio.
Corey Johnson paced the offense with a single, double and home run. Will Coar added a single and a double, while winning pitcher Tyler Knisley and Jesse McCombs both doubled.
Dominique Pompey finished with two hits.
Knisley picked up the victory in relief of starter McCombs, who worked the first two and two-third innings.
McCombs allowed two runs on two hits with a strikeout. Knisely pitched three and two-third innings, allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts.
Dan Reidenbach also pitched an inning, striking out two.
"The pitching has been pretty good," Coar commented.
Niles blew out its first two opponents by identical 12-0 scores.
Also taking 2-0 records into Monday's games were Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.
Iowa joined Niles at 3-0 with a win over Illinois on Monday afternoon.
Wednesday's semifinals will pit the first place team against the fourth place team and the second and third place finishers against each other in the other semifinal.
The semifinals are slated to begin at 5:45 p.m. The championship game will follow at 9 p.m.