Nick Capozzi and Evan Rimer each homered and Polk County tuned up for a conference showdown at Madison with an 8-3 win Wednesday over East Henderson at The Bottoms.
Capozzi slammed a three-run homer and Rimer added a two-run shot as the Wolverines improved to 13-4. East Henderson dropped to 5-15.
Polk County, currently tied with Madison atop the Western Highlands Conference standings, is slated to travel Friday to face the Patriots. A Madison win would give the Patriots a one-game lead and a tiebreaker edge over Polk, having defeated the Wolverines earlier this season.
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A Polk County win would give the Wolverines at least a share of the WHC crown and a chance to win it outright at home next week.
Polk County took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of Wednesday’s game as Rimer singled, stole second and scored on Capozzi’s two-out single to right. Capozzi moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sedrick Pickett’s single to left.
Rimer just missed a home run in the fourth, doubling to drive in Coble Cameron. Capozzi, though, didn’t miss, hammering a blast to left field to give the Wolverines a 6-0 lead.
East Henderson responded with three runs in the top of the fifth to slice the lead in half, but Rimer followed Kyler Scruggs’ single with a homer to left, giving Polk its 8-3 lead.
Rimer finished 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI, with Capozzi going 2-for-3 with four RBI. Pickett was 1-for-2 with an RBI while Elijah Sutton, Jordan Bishop and Scruggs had a hit each.
Zeke Herrmann earned the win, pitching four and a third innings and giving up five hits, three unearned runs and striking out four. Bishop pitched an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief and Jordan Searcy tossed an inning to close out the game.
