Baseball Recap: Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha Finds Home Field Redemption Against Richfield

There's no place like home for Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. They put the hurt on the Richfield Spartans with a sharp 11-1 win on Friday. With that victory, the Pirates brought their scoring average up to 6.3 runs per game.

Nolan Schneider made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Schneider was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one run. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in April of 2024.

In other pitching news, Cooper Peterson looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.

Back at the plate, Beau Bratsch was incredible, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Will Courchane also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .581. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Richfield only posted an OBP of .250.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for Richfield, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-4.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha is set to square off against their familiar foe Academy of Holy Angels at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Pirates 3.8, the Stars 2.6) so any runs scored will be well earned. Meanwhile, Richfield will face off against rival Robbinsdale Cooper at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.