Portage Northern and Mattawan are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2021, but likely not for long. The Huskies will take on the Wildcats at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with four losses in a row, Portage Northern turned things around against Hackett Catholic Prep on Monday. They came out on top against the Fighting Irish by a score of 8-4.
Brice Welke
| 05/05/25 vs Hackett Catholic Prep | 2 |
| 05/05/25 vs Hackett Catholic Prep | 1 |
| 05/02/25 @ Lakeshore | 1 |
| 04/28/25 @ South Christian | 1 |
| 04/28/25 @ South Christian | 1 |
Portage Northern saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brice Welke, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Those two hits gave Welke a new career-high. Another was Evan McIntyre, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base.
Portage Northern always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .565. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Franklin typically has all the answers at home, but on Saturday Mattawan proved too difficult a challenge. They never let the Patriots get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory. The Wildcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight games by six runs or more this season.
Mattawan's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-3-4. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Portage Northern, their record now sits at 7-13-1.
Portage Northern couldn't quite get it done against Mattawan when the teams last played back in April as they fell 8-3. Can the Huskies avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
