By Staff
NILES - The Niles FOP 11-12 year-old All-Star team continued its quest for a District 15 title on Monday night by defeating Centreville 8-7 in District tournament play.
The FOP All-Stars started out early by jumping to a 5-1 lead in the second inning. Centreville narrowed the gap to 5-3 in the third inning and then tied it up 5-5 in the fifth inning.
Niles FOP went ahead 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth, but Centreville came out strong in the sixth inning and went ahead 6-7.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Montrell Merritt started off with a single, Josh Clark had a sacrifice fly to advance the runner, Nathaniel Oates walked, Evan Zimmerman popped out deep to centerfield and Prescott Smith came in to hit a single that scored both base runners and end the game with FOP winning 8-7.
Starting pitcher for the FOP AllStars was Justin Hughes with Merritt coming in for relief.
The FOP offense was led by Nick Lucero with a double and a single, Hughes with a double and Rashad Harris, Merritt, Jay Williams and Smith all with singles.
The 11-12 year-old team will face Schoolcraft in the District Finals tonight at 6 p.m. in Mattawan.
The Niles FOP 9-10 year-old team game against Three Rivers was rescheduled to Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in Cassopolis due to flooded field conditions.