SCHOOLCRAFT — The Niles 11-12 All-Stars advanced to the Michigan District 15 championship game Sunday afternoon with a 17-3 win over Mattawan Friday night.

Niles has also defeated

During the first few innings of play the game seemed evenly matched. Niles had only scored twice throughout the first four innings with Drew Huffman scoring the first run in the first inning and Keenon Helms with the second run in the top of the fourth.

By the top of the fourth inning Mattawan had only scored once with a home run by Nolan Anspaugh in the bottom of the third.

During the bottom of the fourth inning with one man on base, Mattawan’s No. 4 hitter managed another home run, giving it a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning with a man on base, Niles’ Jakob Huffman slugged a home to give the All-Stars a 4-3 advantage. Niles held Mattawan scoreless in the fifth inning, and despite having two outs, it was not about to be denied.

Niles upped its advantage to 7-3 and loaded the bases for Josh Renner, who stepped up and hit a grand slam to increase the All-Stars’ lead to 11-3.

As the sixth inning continued with two outs, two more runs had scored before the bases were loaded once again as Austin Curran stepped to the plate.

With a count of two strikes and one ball, he hit a game-ending grand slam as Niles won 17-3.

Joey Covyeou and Jakob Huffman were both 4-for-5 on the day, while Drew Huffman and Curran were both 3-for-5.

Covyeou and Drew Huffman both took to the mound for Niles, which improved to 4-0 in the tournament.

Niles played in the district championship game in Vicksburg Sunday afternoon. Complete results were unavailable at press time.