Baseball Game Preview: Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha Pirates vs. Breck Mustangs

The Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha Pirates are taking a road trip to square off against the Breck Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha let Richfield stack four runs on them in the third inning on Wednesday but luckily Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha prevailed anyway. The Pirates came out on top against the Spartans by a score of 8-5.

Nolan Schneider was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 4-7 when he doesn't). Meli Sanders also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Meanwhile, Breck gave up the first runs on Saturday, but they didn't let that get them down. They put the hurt on Academy of Holy Angels with a sharp 14-3 win. The Mustangs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six contests by six runs or more this season.

Garret Trench was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Owen Van Horn was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.

Breck pushed their record up to 9-5 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.8 runs over those games. As for Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha, their record now sits at 9-7.

Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha came up short against Breck in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, falling 6-2. Can the Pirates avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.