Baseball Game Preview: Portage Central Mustangs vs. Harper Creek Beavers

The Portage Central Mustangs will square off against the Harper Creek Beavers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Portage Central barely beat Buchanan the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Mustangs were the clear victors by an 11-3 margin over the Bucks on Friday. That eight run margin sets a new team best for the Mustangs this season.

Cooper Martinson

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/23/25 vs Buchanan	4
04/26/25 vs Kalamazoo Christian	2
04/12/25 vs Edwardsburg	2
05/15/25 @ St. Joseph	1
05/08/25 vs Lakeview	1

Cooper Martinson looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).

At the plate, Rylan McNally was a standout: he went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Nolan Bloomquist, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Harper Creek got themselves on the board against Coldwater on Thursday, but Coldwater never followed suit. They walked away with a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals. The Beavers haven't had any issues with the Cardinals recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Portage Central pushed their record up to 10-19 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.0 runs over those games. As for Harper Creek, their victory bumped their record up to 14-6-1.

Portage Central was able to grind out a solid win over Harper Creek when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 9-6. Will the Mustangs repeat their success, or do the Beavers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.