Noah Harden said he didn’t quite have his best stuff on the mound Tuesday.
Whatever he did have was more than good enough.
The Polk County senior held Madison to three hits, authoring a complete-game shutout as the Wolverines nipped the Patriots 1-0 in a matchup of Western Highlands Conference co-leaders at The Bottoms.
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Except at night’s end there was no longer a tie atop the WHC standings. Polk County (10-5, 6-1) moved into sole possession of first place with the win, and that’s what Harden treasured most about the evening.
“That feels good,” he said. “We haven’t done much (in recent years), but we’re looking to win conference.”
Harden struck out four, walked three and got the defensive backing he needed throughout the evening. Just as stellar was Madison starter Caleb Griffin, who also allowed just three hits while walking five and striking out five.
“I still have to work on some things with my hips and my shoulder,” Harden said. “My separation wasn’t on time, so I struggled a bit and had some walks, but I ended up getting the win.”
There were key plays throughout. Two after nightfall decided the outcome.
Wolverine senior Gunnar Alm opened the bottom of the sixth with his second walk of the evening, and a wild pitch allowed Alm to move to second. With one out, Alex Perry’s shallow fly ball to right landed just in front of a charging Madison outfielder, then spun away, allowing Alm to race home with what proved to be the game’s only run.
Polk took that 1-0 lead into the top of the seventh. With one out, Madison freshman catcher Easton Greene doubled on a sharp line drive to right-center, putting the tying run in scoring position.
With a 2-1 count on Carter Norton, Polk assistant coach Josh Money suggested giving a pickoff play a go. Harden whirled and fired to second, where Polk shortstop Nate Fagan corralled the throw and tagged out the courtesy runner who replaced Greene.
Norton worked a walk, but Harden induced a pop-up to first baseman Aaron Jackson to end the game.
“Coach Money called pickoff and it worked,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm. “He called it, I yelled it out and the rest is history.
“Noah Harden was lights out. And when he got in a little bit of trouble, his teammates got him out of it. We’ve got to do better with the sticks, but that was a defensive game. We needed one run and we got it, and Noah did the rest.”
Polk’s best scoring chance before its final at-bat came in the second inning, when Gavin Waldbillig drew a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and then to third on Aaron Jackson’s infield single.
Zalen McCraw followed with a bullet down the third-base line, but right at Madison third baseman Max Shelton, who stepped on third to complete a double play and end the threat.
Madison (7-3, 5-2) pushed a runner to third with two outs in the fifth, but Harden forced a fly ball to Alm in center to end the inning.
Harden, Perry and Jackson had hits for Polk County, which will travel Thursday to Madison for the second of the two games this week with the Patriots.
