Baseball Preview: Lake Central Indians vs. Portage Indians
Lake Central is 9-1 against Portage since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Lake Central Indians will head out on the road to square off against the Portage Indians at 4:30 p.m. Lake Central's pitching crew has only allowed 2.9 runs per game this season, so Portage's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Lake Central took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over Chesterton.
Blake Sivak spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered one run (which was unearned) on seven hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Lake Central's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Drew Kosteba, who went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Portage fell victim to Crown Point and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They lost 8-0 to the Bulldogs. Portage has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Lake Central has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. As for Portage, their loss dropped their record down to 9-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Portage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lake Central took their win against Portage in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 9-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake Central since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
