Baseball Game Preview: Bellmont Braves vs. Heritage Patriots

Bellmont is 2-8 against Heritage since May of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Braves will square off against the Patriots at 4:00 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.

Bellmont is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Mississinewa get on the board and left with a 6-0 win. The Braves haven't had any issues with the Indians recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.

Beau Baker

Batters Struck Out

05/28/25 vs Mississinewa	14
04/21/25 vs Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian	13
05/20/25 vs East Noble	10
05/08/25 vs Leo	10
04/26/25 vs Whitko	10
+ 4 more games

Not much got past Beau Baker, who gave up just a hit and racked up 14 Ks to keep Mississinewa off the board. Baker is becoming a predictor of Bellmont's success: when he posts at least ten strikeouts the team is 4-1 (and 7-12 when he doesn't).

On the hitting side, Mason Martinez was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Heritage waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They blew past the Giants 8-0. Considering the Patriots have won nine contests by more than seven runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

The team relied heavily on Cameron Rauner, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. That's the most doubles he has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Beau Stoppenhagen, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base.

Heritage kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Marion only managed two hits.

Bellmont's record is now 11-13. As for Heritage, their record now sits at 16-5.