By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Niles varsity softball team split a pair of Big 16 West Division games with Lakeshore Tuesday evening at Vella Park.
The Vikes took a very close 3-2 first game win, but in the nightcap the Lancers got revenge with a 12-0 victory. However, the damage was already done to Lakeshore, who now falls to second in the division.
The Lancers were tied with No. 1 ranked Dowagiac in the West Division as both teams held 5-1 records.
Niles coach Jim Arnold said his girls “held on for dear life” to take the win. But with the 10 inning game the night before, the Vikings wore down quick.
Niles scored early in the first game, jumping to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Karly Kennedy had a single and a double with two RBIs and Stephanee Schrader had an RBI single to push the scoring runs across the plate.
It wasn't until the fourth inning when Lakeshore was able to score its first pair of runs, but the Vikes held on for three more innings and claimed the win after pitcher Jenna Ignowski struck out a Lancer batter.
Ignowski took her 12th win of the season on the mound, throwing eight strikeouts and allowing just one walk. Lauren Castonguay suffered the loss.
Other top hitters for Niles were Kayla Gross and Julie Kater who both had singles.
The second game started off fairly slow as both teams failed to score any runs.
Lakeshore put the first run on the scoreboard in the third inning and added seven runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to end the game in the inning.
Ignowski suffered the pitching loss in the second game, bringing her record to 12-8. Erica Gordon also pitched for the Vikes, while Molly Lange claimed the win.
Top hitters in game two were Nellie Coquillard with a double and Kater, Ignowski, Lindsay Carey and Schrader all added singles.
The Lady Vikes are now 16-9 overall, 4-3 in the division and will travel to Coloma next Wednesday for a double header at 4 p.m.