By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
ST. JOSEPH -- The two games Niles played in Saturday's Division 2 District Baseball Tournament could be considered pitcher's duels, which would normally make Niles coach Mike Vota happy.
Besides the fact that he is a former pitcher, Vota has one of the best pitchers in the area and a strong staff beyond that.
Only one of the duels went the Vikings' way, however, as St. Joseph beat Niles 5-3 in the championship game. The Vikings beat Coloma 2-1 in the semifinals to start the day.
After relieving Matt Richardson and earning a save against Coloma, Kessick suffered just his second loss of the season in the title game. Each team managed eight hits as St. Joseph's Derek Bross earned the win with a save by Ben Knuth.
The Bears got off to a quick start with four hits and two runs inteh first inning. At the same time, Niles was slow out of the gate defensively, with one of its four errors coming in the top of the first.
Of the Bears' eight hits, only one was for extra bases. Kyle Etter, who led off the game with a single, hit a triple.
Niles also had just one extra-base hit, a double by Kyle Kidwell, who also hit a triple against Coloma.
Niles found a way to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh, but scored just one run and left two stranded.
St. Joseph, now 25-10, will play in the Division 2 Regional Tournament Saturday at Lakeshore. Niles finishes the season with a record of 23-10.