By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The Niles varsity baseball and softball teams will match up with Dowagiac Tuesday evening to begin the Division 2 District Tournaments at St. Joseph High School.
The Niles baseball team swept a regular-season doubleheader from the Chieftains at Thomas Stadium and the softball team split its doubleheader with Dowagiac at Vella Park.
Tuesday's softball game is schedule to begin at 4 p.m with the baseball game starting at 5:30 p.m.
The tournaments will continue Saturday with semifinal and final play.
In baseball, Coloma awaits the Niles-Dowagiac winner for Saturday's first semifinal at 10 a.m. Lakeshore and St. Joseph will meet in the other semifinal at 12:30 p.m. and the championship game is set to begin at 3 p.m.
In softball, Lakeshore and St. Joseph will play in the first semifinal on Saturday at 10 a.m. Coloma takes on the Niles-Dowagiac winner at noon and the championship game will be at 2 p.m.
Lakeshore, the defending champion in softball, is ranked No. 6 in the latest Division 2 poll. Dowagiac is ranked No. 9 and Coloma is an honorable mention team.
None of the baseball teams in the Division 2 District Tournament at St. Joseph are ranked.
Division 3 at Buchanan
The first round of the Division 3 Baseball and Softball District Tournaments at Buchanan will feature Bridgman and Berrien Springs Tuesday evening.
The Shamrocks and Bees will meet at 5:30 p.m. in both tournaments.
On Saturday, the baseball tournament will continue with a semifinal between River Valley and the Bridgman-Berrien Springs winner at 10 a.m. Buchanan and Brandywine will play in the other semifinal at noon. The championship game is set for 2 p.m.
Brandywine and Buchanan will play Saturday's first softball semifinal at 10 a.m. The Bridgman-Berrien Springs winner will take on River Valley in the other semifinal at 11:30 a.m. The championship game is set for 1 p.m.
Brandywine is ranked No. 3 in softball while River Valley is ranked No. 2 in the latest baseball rankings.