By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Niles varsity baseball team traveled to Coldwater on Saturday for a pair of non-conference games.
The Vikings split with the Cardinals, falling in the first game 9-8, but came back to grab a 7-4 win in the second game.
In game one, a homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning was enough to give Coldwater the win. Niles led 8-7 after scoring three runs in the top of the seventh.
Jake Ferguson suffered the loss at the mound for Niles.
Top hitters for the Vikes were Dustin Anderson, who went 2-for-4 with two singles. Rick Storm went 1-for-3 with a double, Drew Donohue went 1-for-4 with a homerun, Josh Beers went 2-for-3 with two doubles and Alex Welch went 2-for-4 with a single and a double.
In the second game, the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead heading into the fifth inning, but Niles was able to bring five runs across the plate to claim a 7-3 lead.
Coldwater could only score one additional run in the sixth and the Vikes went on to claim the victory.
Beers took the win at the mound with Tim Hardy coming in for the save.
Top hitters for the Vikes were Anderson, who went 2-for-4 with two singles, Storm went 1-for-3 with a double and Tom Robson went 2-for-3 with two singles.
Niles, now 1-5 overall, will host Portage Central on Tuesday. The first game is set for 4:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity game
The Niles JV baseball team also split with Coldwater on Saturday, winning the first game 6-3 and falling in the second 12-6.
In game one, Mike Simpson took the win at the mound for the Vikes and went 2-for-1 at the plate with a RBI.
Other top hitters were Asaad Ali, Sean Gordon and Anthony Gladder all with doubles. Gordon also added three RBIs, while Ali and Andrew Brawley each had one.
In the second game, Billy Siderits suffered the loss at the mound.
Top hitters were Gladder with two hits and two RBIs, Jason Duis with a double and Matt Ritchie with a triple and a double.
Niles, now 2-2, will travel to Portage Central on Thursday for a doubleheader, which is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.