The Portage Central Mustangs will head out to take on the Niles Vikings at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
Lakeview hit Portage Central with a four-run seventh inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Mustangs took a 6-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Spartans.
Portage Central saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Scotty Brown, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Niles had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.6 runs) and they went ahead and made it eight on Friday. They walked away with a 9-4 win over the Lions.
Niles' victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-2. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for Portage Central, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost 11 of their last 12 matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-15 record this season.
Portage Central skirted past Niles 6-5 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the squad 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