Portage has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the South Central Satellites at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Last Wednesday, it was a hard-fought matchup, but Portage had to settle for a 6-4 loss against La Porte. That's two games in a row now that Portage has lost by exactly two runs.
Brooklyn Demercede made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 1-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Erin Fausch, who got on base in two of her four plate appearances with a stolen base and an RBI.
Meanwhile, South Central put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Saturday. Everything went their way against Washington Township as South Central made off with a 14-0 win. The victory was nothing new for South Central as they're now sitting on five straight.
Valerie Horne was a major factor no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 14 over five innings pitched. Horne has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Horne was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and three runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Tennley Werner, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Laynee Jenkins was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in all two of her plate appearances.
Portage's defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 6-12. As for South Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 15 games, which provided a nice bump to their 20-2 record this season.
Portage took their win against South Central in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 9-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Portage since the team 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
