By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES - If the Niles Vikings are going to unseat defending champion St. Joseph, they are going to have to do it in the championship game.
St. Joseph (29-6) are ranked No. 7 in Division 2. The Bears will take on Dowagiac (11-19) in Stevensville at Lakeshore High School today at 4:30 p.m.
The winner advances to Saturday's semifinals against defending Division 3 district champion Edwardsburg at 10 a.m.
The Vikings, who lost a pair of games to St. Joseph in the regular season, will take on Lakeshore in the second semifinal on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The Vikings (21-8) swept Lakeshore in the regular season 5-0 and 14-3.
Matt Richardson is the Vikings' top pitcher with a perfect 6-0 record and an earned run average of 0.98.
Offensively the Vikings are led by Lyle Watson who is hitting .452 with six home runs and 31 RBIs. Cory Coquillard is hitting .410 with five home runs and 26 RBIs, while Steve Clanton is hitting .420.
St. Joseph is led by Paul Bell who is hitting .344 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. The Bears' top pitcher is Derek Bross who is 8-0 with an ERA of 2.37. Jarrett Bross is 7-0 with an ERA of 1.67.
The Eddies are led by pitcher Zac Rooney who, is 8-1 with an ERA 1.81 and Jesse Johnson, who is hitting .438 with six home runs and 29 RBIs.
Dowagiac is led by freshman pitcher Jake Cox. Offensively the Chieftains are led by lead-off hitter David Stuppy. The finals are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
Division 3
Brandywine is hoping to ride the arm of Kory Bridges and the bat of Josh Atwood to a second straight district championship.
The Bobcats are 17-19 on the season and look to make a statement on Saturday in Berrien Springs.
Bridges, who is 10-4 on the season with an ERA of 1.01, broke his own strike out record this season with 166 in just 104 innings of work.
Atwood is cloing in on a couple of records with his bat for the Bobcats.
Atwood is hitting .402 this season with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. Atwood could break school marks in home runs and RBIs.
The Bobcats' other top offensive threat is Matt Wieger, who has 39 stolen bases and is hitting .347.
Berrien Springs, ranked No. 5 in Division 4, will get the tournament started today at 4:30 p.m. against Bridgman.
The Shamrocks, who are 24-4, are led offensively by Scott Snyder who is hitting .484.
The Wood brothers, Kolby and Shelby, are 6-1 and 4-0 on the season with ERAs of 1.34 and 0.95 respectively.
The winner advances to Saturday's semifinal against the Bobcats at 10 a.m.
Bridgman is 10-15 on the season.
In the other game on Saturday, River Valley (19-11) will take on Buchanan (13-20) at 11:30 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 1 p.m.