By Staff
Niles High School varsity baseball coach Mike Vota predicted he wouldn't get much sleep this week, and he was probably right.
After beating Dowagiac in the pre-district game on Tuesday, Vota was faced with the decision of who would pitch against Coloma in the Vikings' first game Saturday in the district semifinals.
Senior ace John Kessick worked all seven innings against Dowagiac, but has had plenty of time to rest and will be ready to go Saturday morning.
Junior lefty Matt Richardson already owns a win over Coloma this season when the Vikings defeated the Comets 6-4 on their way to the Coloma Invitational championship.
Vota's dilemma lies in the fact that Niles will have to win two games Saturday to capture its first district title since 1999 and the second game is likely to be against host St. Joseph.
The Bears face Lakeshore in the second semifinal Saturday morning.
It's kind of like a chess match.
Vota has to try to figure out who will pitch for St. Joseph against Lakeshore while trying to keep focused on his own team.
Niles and St. Joseph are similar teams pitching-wise. Both boast powerful No. 1 pitchers. Kessick's counterpart is senior Ben Knuth. Both throw the ball harder than just about anybody in the area and neither loses very often.
The decision may seem simple from the outside, but gets very complex when you think about the possibilities.
If Kessick pitches the first game and Niles wins, then Richardson, or another Niles pitcher, has to pitch in the second game no matter who pitches for St. Joseph.
If Richardson pitches against Coloma and wins, then the Vikings are in good shape with Kessick on the mound in the title game.
If Kessick pitches in the first game and loses, then the dilemma is moot.
If Richardson pitches against the Comets and loses, then Vota will be left wishing he had used Kessick in the first game.
Supposing Niles wins the first game, there is a whole new set of circumstances to consider for the championship game.
If St. Joseph uses Knuth to beat Lakeshore, then the championship game looks good for Niles whether Kessick or Richardson pitched the first game.
If the Bears get through their first game of the day with a pitcher other than Knuth, then Niles will hope it has Kessick on the mound in the title game, or else Richardson throws one of the best games of his career and comes up with a victory.
As you can see, this is a tough decision.
The best thing going in Niles' favor is that both Kessick and Richardson own victories over St. Joseph this season.
When the two teams met on May 19 in a Big 16 Conference West Division doubleheader, Kessick allowed four hits with eight strikeouts as the Vikings beat St. Joseph 1-0 in the first game. Richardson then took the mound in the second game and proceeded to allow just five hits in the Vikings' 10-5 victory.
That should give Vota confidence in both of his pitchers going into Saturday's semifinals.
The other thing working in the Vikings' favor is that each pitcher is allowed, by state rules, to work 10 innings on a single day. That opens up the possibility for Kessick to relieve Richardson, should he get in trouble against Coloma, and still pitch in the championship game. Kessick could also start the first game and be relieved by Richardson in order to spare Kessick's innings.
Vota is going to avoid these last two options at all cost, however, because pitching 10 innings in one day, especially with a long break in between the first three and the last seven, is not an easy task.
Vota's position is not an enviable one, until the games start because then the frustrating decision process will be over and he'll be able to enjoy being a coach again.
Good luck to the Vikings and to Vota. Now, go get some sleep.
Dan Weiss is sports editor of the Niles Daily Star. Email him at dan.weiss@leaderpub.com