By Staff
NILES - The Niles FOP 9-10 year-old All-Star team continued its quest for a district championship by defeating Three Rivers 18-7 in dramatic extra inning fashion Tuesday night in Cassopolis.
Three Rivers' defense tightened and held the Niles offense scoreless for three innings.
The Wildcats scored two runs in the second inning, one in the third and tied the score 6-6 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Niles added a run in the fifth inning to go up 7-6, only to have Three Rivers tie the score again in the bottom of the sixth inning 7-7.
Niles' offense then exploded in the top of the seventh inning as the All-Stars scored 11 runs, held Three Rivers scoreless and won the game 18-7 with the game ending at 11:30 p.m.
Derek Scott started the night off early in the first inning for Niles when he pounded a double to right field to score Ethan Zimmerman and Maris Marazita.
After a run down between third and home, Marcus Hatcher was able to score Niles' next run on a passed throw to home to bring the score to 3-0.
Kevin Hatcher and Connor Glick were next to score for Niles after James Krause hit a double and Three Rivers made a defensive error.
Krause then scored on an RBI single from Alex Wright to give Niles a 6-0 lead.
Starting pitcher for FOP was Scott with Griffin coming in for relief.
The FOP offense was led by Scott and Zimmerman each with a double and two singles, Marazita with four singles, Krause with three singles, Griffin with two singles, and Glick, Doug Freeman and Wright all with singles.
Niles FOP All-Stars will return to the field tonight at 6 in Cassopolis for the championship game against Vicksburg.