By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- After a well-played game in which it came up short, the Niles varsity baseball team seemed to lose its mental focus and committed six errors Thursday evening in the second game of a Big 16 Conference doubleheader with Battle Creek Lakeview.
The Vikings did not commit any errors in a 3-2 loss to open the doubleheader at Thomas Stadium The wheels fell off, however, in the second as Niles threw the ball away on several occasions, allowing the Spartans to earn an easy 14-3 win.
The losses drop Niles' record to 9-6 while Lakeview improves to 12-7.
The Vikings, who have just four seniors on their roster, will play in a tournament at Coloma Saturday.
Vota is certain his team can make the necessary plays, it just hasn't found the right mental state of mind to do it in games.
Junior pitcher Adrian Davis took the loss for Niles in the first game. David Mills earned the victory for Lakeview.
The Spartans scored two runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead and the only offense Niles could muster after that was a solo home run by Cory Coquillard in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was Coquillard's fourth homer of the season.
Josh Henry doubled in the first game while Kyle Kidwell singled to round out Niles' three hits.
Taylor Edwards and Carl Mulder each hit doubles for the Spartans in the opener.
Lakeview quickly took advantage of Niles' mistakes in the second game, scoring three runs in the first inning and three more in the second. The third inning is when things got really ugly for the Vikings as three errors helped the Spartans score five runs.
Coquillard took the pitching loss as he worked three innings before Aaron Ralston came on in relief. The two combined to give up 14 hits.
Tyrus Ratliff earned the victory on the mound for Lakeview, giving up just four hits.
Henry hit a solo home run while Ralston and Rob Schuelke each doubled for Niles in the second game. Kidwell added a single.