West Branch had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it nine on Friday. They had just enough and edged the Portage Mustangs out 6-4. That result was just more of the same for these two, as West Branch also won the last time the pair played back in May of 2023.
The team relied heavily on Layla Thompson, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Madison Butler, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
On Portage's side, they saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lily Koban, who scored two runs while going 1-for-4.
West Branch's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. As for Portage, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-9.
West Branch will play host again on Monday to welcome Bucktail, where first pitch is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (West Branch: 2.2, Bucktail: 1.7) so any runs scored will be well earned. As for Portage, they will head out on the road to face off against Cambria Heights at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Cambria Heights is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
