By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC -- The Niles F.O.P. Little League All-Stars and the Westwood Little League All-Stars are all tied up in the 12-year-old Sectional Tournament which is scheduled to resume today at Dowagiac's Russom Field.
Niles won the first of this best-of-three series Friday night in convincing fashion but then lost a nail-biter Saturday to force a third game tonight, scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Niles pitcher Taylor Ort dominated the Westwood batters for most of the game Friday night. He did not give up any hits until the fifth inning.
Asaad Ali's three-run homer Friday night stretched the Niles lead and put the game out of Westwood's reach.
Saturday, however, was a different story. Westwood timed Niles pitcher Mike Simpson much better and a pair of two-run homers gave Westwood a 4-0 lead after just one and a half innings of play.
Niles battled back with one run in the bottom of the second inning. Two more runs in the bottom of the third chopped the Westwood lead to just one run.
Ali came on in relief of Simpson and gave up no runs in the final two innings.
Niles, however, also went scoreless down the stretch. Simpson singled, but was stranded, in the fifth inning. Nick Davis was left at third base in the sixth inning as Niles suffered the 4-3 loss.
The two teams will meet tonight to decide which will advance to the State Tournament in Mt. Pleasant on Thursday.
Here is the District 15 Little League scoreboard from the weekend.
July 18
Junior Softball
Three Rivers 9, Centreville 1
9-10 Softball
Vicksburg 21, Decatur 15 resumed from suspension 7/17
7-8 Baseball
Dowagiac 16, Vicksburg 9
Little League Baseball Sectional
Game one
Niles FOP 7, Westwood 1
July 19
7-8 Baseball
Cassopolis 5, Mattawan 2
West Portage 16, Brandywine 7
Schoolcraft 17, Three Rivers 5
9-10 Baseball
Decatur 17, Mendon 7
Schoolcraft 7, Three Rivers 2
Centreville 13, Marcellus 2
Mattawan 20, Lawton 1
Little League Baseball Sectional
Game 2
(District 2)Westwood 4, (District 15)Niles FOP 3
Junior Baseball Sectional
(D16)Tecumseh 9, (D15)Dowagiac 0
(D2) South Portage 5, (D16)Tecumseh 1
Senior Baseball Sectional
(D15)Mattawan 5, (D16)Blissfield 4
(D15)Mattawan 7, (D2)Gull Lake 6, 10 innings
9-10 Softball
Vicksburg 29, Schoolcraft 25
Dowagiac 6, Three Rivers 0 Forfeit
Junior Softball
Mattawan 5, Three Rivers 1 Championship game
Senior Softball Sectional
(D15)Dowagiac 14, (D2)Eastwood 3
(D15)Dowagiac 6, (D2)Eastwood 2 -Dowagiac wins best two of three.
July 20
Junior Baseball Sectional
(D15)Dowagiac 6, (D16)Tecumseh 5
(D15)Dowagiac 3, (D2) South Portage 1
Senior Baseball Sectional
(D16)Blissfield 13, Gull Lake 1
(D15)Mattawan 4, (D16) Blissfield 1