By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES – For the second time in school history, the Niles varsity softball team is a champion.
The Lady Vikings claimed their first conference, or this case, division championship since 1994 and only for the second time ever, with a sweep of visiting Lakeshore Tuesday afternoon at Vella Park.
Niles, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, defeated the Lady Lancers 7-0 and 3-1 to capture the Big 16 Conference West Division championship.
"It's great," remarked first-year Niles coach Gary Collins about the championship. "We played real well. Other than a couple of wind blown balls, I thought we really played well. I was glad to see that we came back from that loss. We weren't focused before the game during warm ups and I got on them about it."
Niles rebounded nicely from its first loss of the season Monday night to Penn, 2-1 in nine innings.
The Lady Vikings (24-1) scored a pair of runs in the first and third innings to seize control of the game. Niles completed the scoring with a three-run fourth inning.
From there, it turned the ball over to Jenna Ignowski, who ended up with 23 strikeouts in the doubleheader.
Lakeshore managed just three hits in the first game and two hits in the nightcap.
Meanwhile, Niles did not hit the ball the way it is accustom to, but still put 10 runs on the board for the day and had 11 hits in the two games.
"I think we need to be a little more consistent offensively, but overall I am pleased," Collins said. "They work hard, I will give them that."
Ignowski singled and homered to drive in four of Niles' seven runs in the first game. Battery mate Maggie Ernsberger finished with two hits and two RBIs.
Amy Knapp had a single and a double to account for two of Lakeshore's three hits.
Ignowski struck out 12 in the opener and did not walk a batter. Maggie Hildebrand took the loss for Lakeshore.
Offensively for the Lady Vikings in the second game, Cricket Fisher and Ernsberger both had two hits.
Ignowski struck out 11 and walked one in tossing a two-hitter.
Hildebrand again took the loss for the Lady Lancers, who dip to 17-10 on the year and 2-4 in the West Division.
"We're excited about winning our league, but tomorrow it will be back to work," noted Collins.
First Game
Lakeshore 000 000 0 – 0 3 4
Niles 202 300 x – 7 6 1
WP – Jenna Ignowski (N, 22-1) and Maggie Ernsberger
LP – Maggie Hildebrand (L, 15-5), Kim Murphy (6) and Chelsey Sobralski
2B: Amy Knapp (L)
HR: Ignowski (N)
Second Game
Lakeshore 001 000 0 – 1 2 4
Niles 011 010 x – 3 5 1
WP – Jenna Ignowski (N, 23-1) and Maggie Ernsberger
Maggie Hildebrand (L, 15-6), Kim Murphy (6) and Kelly Vigansky
Records
Lakeshore 17-10, 2-4 West Division; Niles 24-1, 6-0 West Division