Billy Alm had a postgame message Monday night he made certain that Polk County’s baseball team heard.
“I told them not to hang their heads, not to look at our record,” Alm said in the wake of the Wolverines’ 9-5 loss to Mountain Heritage. “We’re going to surprise some people later this season.”
Back on the field for the first time in 10 days, Polk County (1-5, 0-2) ran into a Mountain Heritage offense that pounded out 13 hits, including a pair of doubles and three homers, in keeping the Wolverines at bay.
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Polk County earned an 8-2 win in junior varsity action.
The Cougars (2-4, 2-1) served notice early that they had arrived in Columbus in fine form. Hayden Branton hit the first of the three Cougar home runs with one out in the top of the first to give Mountain Heritage a quick 1-0 lead.
Polk County answered with a two-run first inning to retake the lead as Evan Rimer doubled and scored on Holden Owens’ single and Owens scored on Tyler Harris’ double. But Mountain Heritage responded with a five-run second inning, capped by Mike Austin’s two-run homer, to take a 6-2 edge.
Polk County threatened in the bottom of the third to make it a much closer affair. Rimer crushed his first homer of the season to left-center field before Owens, Harris and Sedric Pickett singled to load the bases with no outs. But Riley Dahlberg induced back-to-back grounders to third, the latter which became a 5-2-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Wolverines trailing 7-3.
The Wolverines added their final two runs in the fourth as Chris Lawrence hammered a double to deep left and Bailey Livesay followed with a walk. Rimer singled to drive in Lawrence, with Livesay moving to third. A wild pitch allowed Livesay to score to make it 8-5.
Mountain Heritage added a run in the sixth inning for the final margin.
“They just flat outhit us,” Alm said. “But we’re getting better each game. We played a lot better defensively. We’re making leaps and bounds every game.”
Rimer finished 4-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Wolverines’ 10-hit attack. Owens and Harris were each 2-for-4 and Pickett and Lawrence had hits as well.
Avery Edwards took the loss, pitching two innings. Nick Capozzi entered in relief and lasted five innings, striking out three with six hits and two runs.
Polk County remains in WHC play on Tuesday, journeying to Avery for another conference clash.
