The Portage Mustangs will head out on the road to challenge the Bishop Carroll Huskies at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Monday, Portage needed a bit of extra time to put away Blacklick Valley. They had just enough and edged the Vikings out 6-5. Six seems to be a good number for Portage as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Connor Binaut was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Binaut was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, Portage let Trae Kargo and Easton Slanoc loose on the outfield. Kargo scored a run while going 2-for-4, while Slanoc scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Bishop Carroll had no problem doing just that on Monday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Vikings and snuck past 8-6. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Bishop Carroll.
Like Portage, Bishop Carroll also got a great game from a two-way player: Luke Repko. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Repko was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Grant Casses, who went 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Cory Franceschini, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
The victory (which was Portage's third in a row) raised their record to 10-12. As for Bishop Carroll, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 9-12 record this season.
Portage was able to grind out a solid win over Bishop Carroll in their previous meeting back in April of 2016, winning 4-1. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Bishop Carroll's Raymond Watt, who struck out six batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Portage to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
