From staff reports

To say the Howard Township All-Stars had a pretty good weekend at the Cal Ripken State Tournament might be a bit of an understatement.

The All-Stars captured the 8-, 9-, 10- and 12-year-old state championships at various sites.

The 8-year-old All-Stars rallied in the bottom of the sixth to defeat Huron Valley 6-5 to capture their championship.

Howard Township will now play in the regional tournament it will host at Pepper Martin Park the weekend of July 23-26.

The 12-year-old All-Stars also had to rally in the bottom of the sixth to earn the title.

Howard Township defeated the Huron Valley Rebels, Clinton Valley, Brandon and Huron Valley A before knocking off Lanse Creuse North in the championship 8-7.

The All-Stars are heading to Lexington, Ky. to compete in the Ohio Valley Regional later this month.

BPA state championship
The Niles Vikings 14U travel baseball team captured the BPA Michigan state championship in Holt with a record of 5-1.

In its opening game, Niles blanked the Motor City Bulldogs 2-0 behind a strong pitching performance from Kyle Rago.

In the second game, the Vikings blanked the Michigan Eagles 12-0 with Tate Rudlaff earning the mound victory.

Niles edged the Michigan Vipers 5-3 as Tyler Gnodtke and Tate Brawley combined for the victory.

The Vikings suffered a 7-6 setback at the hands of the Lansing Exchange, but they bounced back to defeated the Exchange 10-7. Matt Hendricks and Vashaun Morgan combined on the mound for the win.

Niles advanced to the championship game where it defeated Tri-Valley from Saginaw 8-2. Austyn Allwood went the distance for the Vikings in the title game.

Niles now moves on to the BPA World Series in Warsaw, Ind. July 20-25.