By Staff
CASSOPOLIS - There's nothing like having two All-Star teams from the same league win back-to-back district titles.
That's exactly what the Niles FOP 9-10 year-old and 11-12 year-old All-Star teams did this week.
The Niles FOP 9/10 All-Star team took the District 15 Championship in dramatic fashion Wednesday in Cassopolis by defeating Vicksburg, 4-3.
The game was a tough defensive battle on both sides of the field.
Starting pitcher for the Niles FOP All-Stars was Kevin Hatcher.
Vicksburg took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
But Niles came back in the second inning to go ahead 2-1 with a hit by Doug Freeman.
Niles added a run in the fourth inning and another run in the sixth inning to go ahead 4-1.
Ethan Zimmerman came in for relief in the third inning and shut down the Vicksburg offense, but not without a scare in the bottom of the sixth inning by Vicksburg.
With two outs, two strikes and one on base, Zimmerman threw a pitch that hit the batter.
The next batter hit a nice single, which scored two runs to put the game at 4-3.
Another hit by Vicksburg and a walk by Zimmerman put runners in scoring position.
Zimmerman then struck out the last batter to take the win for the FOP All-Stars.
The team now heads to the Michigan Little League State Tournament Friday being held in West Branch.
They will begin pool play on Saturday with their first game at 4 p.m.
The other pool play games will be on Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday at 1 p.m. Single elimination rounds will begin on Tuesday.
Donations for the 9-10 and 11-12 year-old teams are being sought to help defray the cost of hotels and meals for the players.
Anyone interested in making a donation can contact Lori Zimmerman at 574-876-1091.