By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
EDWARDSBURG – It was a heartbreaking loss for the Niles varsity baseball team on Tuesday as Lakeshore eliminated the Vikings from the post season.
The Lancers' Brandon Polaskey singled with two outs to lift Lakeshore to the 3-2 victory over Niles in the opening round of the Division 2 District Tournament at Edwardsburg High School.
After leading 1-0 for much of the contest, Niles scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning to grab a 2-1 advantage in the third meeting between the two schools this year.
Lakeshore (30-5) forced the extra inning when Tim McNair singled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
"That's about as tough as it gets," Niles coach Mike Vota said. "My heart bleeds for these kids. They gave everything they had. Anytime you're in a tough game like this, you can look at one play that makes the difference. Tonight there were a lot of one plays."
It looked as if Niles might wiggle out of its jam in the eighth inning, as after giving up a walk and a double, the Vikings got the next two Lakeshore hitters to strike out and hit a ground ball that would lead to Will Harrington being thrown out at the plate.
But Polaskey dropped a base hit into center field to drive in Zak Wasserman, who had doubled.
"Polaskey has done that all year for us," former Dowagiac standout and current Lakeshore coach Mark Nate said. "He goes with the pitch and puts the ball in play."
Trailing 1-0 heading into the top half of the sixth inning, Niles (25-8) struck for a pair of runs to turn the score around in its favor.
Asaad Ali singled home the tying run and Alex Welch lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run.
Lakeshore was able to minimize the damage and keep the deficit to just one run as the Vikings left the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Polaskey reached base on an error and Blane Phillips drew a walk to put runners at first and second.
Following a strikeout, McNair singled to center to score courtesy runner Ben Marsh.
The Vikings finished with five hits, including three by losing pitcher Mikie Simpson.
The Lancers finished with seven hits, including two by Zane Metz, who drove in the game's first run.
The Lancers will now take on host Edwardsburg on Saturday in the opening game at 10 a.m. The winner will advance to the afternoon title game.
Niles 000 002 00 – 2 5 2
Lakeshore 100 000 11 – 3 7 2
WP – Tim Newman (L, 5-2), Nick Wheeler (starter) and Brandon Polaskey
LP – Mikie Simpson (N, 4-3), Zach Bloss (1), Simpson (4), Bloss (7) and Dan Holland
2B: Mikie Simpson (N), D.J. Wolnik (N), Zane Metz (L), Zak Wasserman (L).
Records
Lakeshore 30-5, Niles 25-8