Blue Devils can’t top Hill, Wolverines in 2-1 Polk win

Polk County gave starter Micah Hill an early lead Tuesday – which the Wolverine senior effectively and efficiently preserved.

Hill held Brevard to four hits as Polk County scored a key 2-1 Mountain Foothills 7 Conference victory at Brevard.

The win lifts the Wolverines (9-9, 5-6) into fourth place in the MF7 and will undoubtedly provide a boost to the team’s RPI, the factor that determines playoff berths and seedings. The Wolverines sit 23rd as of early Wednesday morning in RPI and look set to claim a 2A wild-card playoff spot.

Brevard dropped to 12-8, 4-7. The two teams meet again Friday at The Bottoms in the regular-season finale.

Hill pitched a complete game for Polk, striking out seven and walking two. Four of his seven strikeouts came in the final two innings to thwart any hopes Brevard had of a comeback.

Polk pushed across its two runs in the second inning. Hill reached on an error and Jackson Beiler followed with a single, moving courtesy runner Karlen McEntyre to third. With one out, McEntyre scored on an error during a double steal attempt, with Beiler taking second. He scored from there on Casey Beiler’s single.

Caleb Salter’s two-out double in the third accounted for Brevard’s only run, plating Garrett Swicegood. The Blue Devils did get runners on first and second with one out in the fifth, but Hill snared a Swicegood line drive and tossed to second to catch the Brevard runner off base and complete an inning-ending double play.

Evan Jones, Coble Cameron, Angus Weaver, Jackson Beiler, Casey Beiler and Riley Searcy each had base hits for Polk.

The Wolverines travel Wednesday to Madison for a non-conference game.