By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - After a weekend of hot action at Thomas Stadium, only four teams remain in a battle for the Babe Ruth championships.
The Indians and the Dodgers will go head-to-head tonight for a shot at the Preps League title. Game time is set for 7.
In the Juniors League, the Cubs and the Reds will face off Wednesday at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the Indians advanced to the championship game when it defeated the Rangers, 9-5.
Ritchie Reed and Cameron Smallman both took turns on the mound for the Indians.
Reed threw two strike outs, three walks and allowed one hit.
Smallman had two strike outs, two walks and allowed three hits.
Kyle King, Timmy Flynn and Dustin Bell all rotated at the mound for the Rangers.
King threw three strike outs, four walks and allowed three hits.
Flynn threw two strike outs, five walks and allowed two hits and Bell had one walk and allowed one hit.
The Indians were led offensively by Reed, Tyler Powers, David Sokolowski and Zac Edquist all with one single each and Smallman and Kody Stroud both had one single and one RBI each.
Top hitters for the Rangers were Derek Nichols with two singles and one RBI, Nathan Clingenpeel with one single and one RBI and King with one single and one RBI.
Dodgers vs Astros
The Dodgers earned their way to the final game when they defeated the No. 2 Astros, 16-10, Friday evening.
The Astros had one last chance to catch up in the fourth inning when they were down 16-4.
Hits from Zach Gerber, Taylor Wyatt, Kevin Gross and Tyler House wasn't enough for the Astros to come back as they watched the Dodgers take the win.
Ralph Sater and Wayne Marazita took turns at the mound for the Dodgers.
Gerber, Brian Evans and Tyler House all took turns for the Astros.
The Dodgers were led offensively by Sater with three singles, Sean Smith and Gage Ratkay both with one single and one RBI, Marazita with a double and a single, Gage Pearson with a double and one RBI and Josh Hayden with a single.
White Sox vs. Yankees
The Yankees just got by the White Sox Saturday afternoon with a 9-8 win to advance them to Sunday's semifinal game against the Reds.
Zach Bloss and Sam Hatch both pitched for the Yankees. Bloss threw four strike outs, allowing two walks and 10 hits, while Hatch threw three strike outs and allowed four hits.
Tyler Kingsley and Justin Fredericks both pitched for the Sox. Kingsley had five strike outs and allowed six walks and four hits, while Fredericks had six walks and allowed three hits.
The Sox were led offensively by Derrick Viganski with two singles and two RBIs, Fredericks with two singles, Mike Connors with two singles, Trevor Ernsberger with two singles and one RBI, Scott Warner with two singles, a double and one RBI, Justin Gebert with two singles and one RBI and David Schoenlebor with a double.
The Yankees were led by Bloss with a single and two RBIs, Hatch with two singles and Cody Maynard, Josh Patterson and Cody Shirrell all with one single each.
Giants vs. Expos
The Giants advanced to Sunday's semifianls game against the Cubs when they took a 7-1 win over the Expos Saturday afternoon.
DJ Wolnik, Scott Stinebaugh and John Rosol all rotated at the mound for the Giants.
Nick Fedore took the loss for the Expos, throwing 11 strike outs and allowing nine hits.
Top hitters for the Giants were McCade Reese with two doubles, Wolnik with a double and a single, Stinebaugh with a single and one RBI, Rosol with two singles and one RBI and Shane Bankston with two doubles and three RBIs.
The Expos were led by Cody Pierson and Adam Saltsman both with one single each.
Giants vs. Cubs
The No. 1 ranked Cubs proved to be too much for the No. 5 ranked Giants Sunday afternoon as they took a 6-2 win to advance them to Wednesday's championship game.
Jake Harris and Brad Heron both pitched for the Cubs.
Harris threw seven strike outs and allowed only three hits.
DJ Wolnik took the loss for the Giants, throwing three strike outs, three walks and allowing seven hits.
The Giants were led offensively by Wolnik, McCade Reese and Robert Basker all with one single each.
Top hitters for the Cubs were Justin Stroud with two singles, Nick Hartman with a double and one RBI, Harris with a double and one RBI, Alex Lindzy with a double and one RBI, Travis Rooney with a single and one RBI and Josh Eaves with a single and one RBI.
Yankees vs. Reds
In a very close game, the No. 2 ranked Reds took a 7-6 win over the No. 3 ranked Yankees to advance them to the championship game on Wednesday against the Cubs.
With the score tied at six in the top of the sixth inning, the Reds were able to score one run to give them the one run edge and win as they held the Yankees in the top of the seventh.
Jake Furgeson took the win on the mound for the Reds, throwing seven strike outs, allowing two walks and nine hits.
Mitch Plott and Zach Bloss both pitched fo the Yankees.
Plott had two strike outs, two walks and allowed seven hits, while Bloss had three strike outs and allowed only one hit.
The Yankees were led offensively by Bloss with two doubles, a single and one RBI, Plott had a double, single and one RBI, Cody Maynard and Matt Ritchey both had one single each, Sam Hatch had a double and one RBI and Cody Shirrell had one single and one RBI.
Top hitters for the Reds were Dan Ridenbach with a double, single and two RBIs, Jake Ferguson had two doubles and one RBI, Cody Udell had one single, Dominique Pompey had a single and one RBI, Paris Dickinson had two singles, Brad Ritchy had a double and one RBI amd Zac Sharkey had one RBI.