Baseball Recap: Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha Takes Down Irondale in a Playoff Battle

It's playoff time, and Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha had no trouble coming through when it counted. They had just enough and edged out the Irondale Knights 4-2.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha got a great performance from Cooper Peterson as he tossed five innings while giving up just two earned runs off eight hits. Peterson also tossed a walk, which is notable because the Pirates are 6-3 when he allows at most two walks, but 6-7 otherwise.

On the hitting side, Nolan Schneider was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. He has become a key player for Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 4-10 otherwise.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-10 record this season. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 1.67 runs across that stretch. As for Irondale, their loss dropped their record down to 5-16.

Looking ahead, Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha will challenge Osseo at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Irondale does not have any more games scheduled as of now.