By SCOTT NOVAK

Niles Daily Star

Mother Nature may have won the battle Friday night, but the 8-year-old Ohio Valley Regional won the war.

Playing through stifling heat during the day, the action cut short in the evening by a thunderstorm that rolled through the area as Howard Township was preparing for its opening ceremonies at Pepper Martin Park.

The tournament had progressed through all of its games except for the two scheduled late games.

Crown Point White was supposed to play Benton Harbor and Brandywine 1 was supposed to play Howard A.

Those two games have been rescheduled.

Action is slated to begin at 10 a.m. today. Opening ceremonies will be held between the 7 and 8:30 p.m. games.

St. Johns…5

Brandywine 1…11

A pair of five-run innings propelled Brandywine 1 to an 11-5 victory over St. John’s in its opening game of the tournament.

Brandywine also scored a run in the fourth.

St. John’s scored two runs in the first and third innings to sandwich a run in the second.

Colin Snyder had a pair of singles and a double to lead Brandywine, while also got a single and a double from both Camden Lorence and Cameron Barrier.

Korey Marlow had a single and a double for St. John’s and a pair of hits from Matt Ossanaa.

Crown Point Red…26

L’Anse Creuse…4

Trailing L’Anse Creuse North 4-2 after an inning of play, Crown Point Red scored seven times in the second, four times in the third and 13 times in the fourth to take a 26-4 victory.

Frank Plesac hit for the cycle with two singles, a double, a triple and a home run. He also drove in four runs.

Benton Harbor…9

East End Mishawaka White…4

A five-run third inning broke open a close game and Benton Harbor went on to post a 9-4 win over East End Mishawaka.

Amaur Williams had two singles and a triple for Benton Harbor.

Travon Howard added a single and a homerun, while JeSean Lee finished with two hits.

Donavan Snyder had three hits for Mishawaka.

Josh Gill singled and homered.

Griffin…8

L’Anse Creuse…1

Griffith broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the third and defeated L’Anse Creuse North 8-1.

Griffith added four runs in the sixth to complete the scoring.

Bryan Castillo had three hits, while Andrew Davenport finished with two singles and a double.

Carson Crowe added a single and a double.

Evan DeBruyne had two hits for L’Anse Creuse. Rocco Rudzewksi had a triple and Jake White added a single and a double.

Harris Gold…23

Clinton Valley…0

Harris scored 14 runs in the first inning and never looked back in defeating Clinton Valley 23-0.

Harris added two in the second and seven in the fourth as they finished with 24 hits.

Schererville…12

Pikeville…11

Despite trailing 6-1 after one inning of play, Schererville came back to defeat Pikeville 12-11.

Schererville cut the lead to 6-3 with a pair of runs in the second, but trailed 7-3 heading to the pivotal fourth inning.

Schererville scored four times to knot the game at 7-7.

Pikeville came back with two in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead, but Schererville scored twice in the top of the fifth to tie the game again.

After Pikeville grabbed an 11-9 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Schererville tallied three times in the top of the sixth to pull out the win.

Harris Black…22

L’Anse Creuse…1

Harris scored early and often to defeat L’Anse Creuse 22-1.

Harris scored four in the first, six in the second, one in the third, eight in the fourth and three in the fifth.

L’Anse Creuse’s lone run came in the second.