Four days after an 11-hit assault on Hendersonville pitching, Mountain Heritage continued to find its offensive groove on Tuesday, much to the dismay of Polk County’s pitching staff.
The Cougars rapped out 15 hits, including a pair of home runs, in posting a 14-3, six-inning win over the Wolverines in a Western Highlands Conference battle at Polk.
Mountain Heritage (2-2, 2-0) scored in every inning Tuesday, doing so with a flurry of line drives that consistently found gaps and fly balls that dropped just between Polk County fielders. The Wolverines, meanwhile, had just five hits, but had their share of hard-hit balls as well, though usually directly at a Mountain Heritage fielder.
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“I really believe that if you’ve ever seen a case of it being ‘their night,’ it was tonight,” said Polk County head coach Ty Stott. “No question about it, this was their night.
“We’re going to keep working. I just told the kids that we may get beat 14-3 the rest of the season, but we’re going to keep working. I’m going to be out here every day working as hard as I can. Hopefully, they will be, too.”
The Cougars built a 10-0 lead midway through the game, keyed by home runs by South Carolina-Aiken recruit Colton Garland and Michael Austin, before Polk County’s offense rallied. A walk to Tyler Harris opened the bottom of the fourth. One out later, Noah Howell singled, and the two runners advanced a base moments later on a passed ball.
Daniel Painter followed with a grounder that bounced off a Heritage infielder and into left field, allowing both runners to score. Holden Owens and J.D. Edwards followed with singles that drove in Painter to make it 10-3.
Owens finished 2-for-3 to lead Polk County’s offense, which also got singles from Bailey Livesay, Howell and Edwards.
