Noah Harden pitched five strong innings and Polk County capitalized on 12 walks and four hit batters to defeat Avery 13-3 in Tuesday’s Western Highlands Conference baseball action in Newland.
The Wolverines (13-7, 8-1 WHC) scored five runs in the first inning, added four more in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth to pull away.
Harden earned the win, allowing three hits and three runs (one earned) with six strikeouts over five innings.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Avery fell to 6-10, 2-6 in the conference.
Polk County jumped ahead 5-0 in the first inning despite recording just one hit. Gunnar Alm and Noah Harden drew walks to open the game, and Alex Perry reached on an error that scored both runners. After Nate Fagan grounded out, Gavin Waldbillig and Cooper Meyer drew walks before Aaron Jackson and Zalen McCraw drove in runs to extend the lead.
The Wolverines added four runs in the third inning, highlighted by Alm’s RBI single that scored three runs after Avery also committed an error on the play. Polk County pushed the lead to 13-2 with three more runs in the fifth, including a two-run double by Fagan.
Alm finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and a stolen base and Fagan went 1-for-3 with two RBI, a double and a stolen base. Polk had just two hits in the five-inning win.
Polk County hosts Burns on Wednesday for a non-conference game.
