Owen righthander Brady Parker brought an end Tuesday night to Polk County’s recent offensive surge.
Parker held Polk County to three hits, striking out 13 Wolverines as Owen took a 3-0 victory in a Western Highlands Conference meeting at Polk.
The Wolverines (4-9, 1-4) received a strong pitching outing as well from freshman Avery Edwards and sophomore Tyler Harris, but a Polk County lineup averaging more than 12 runs in its last five games never broke through against Parker. The Owen senior allowed just three singles and seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, striking out seven of eight batters at one point in a stretch covering the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
“He was definitely throwing in the mid 80s, and we don’t see that every day,” said Polk County head coach Ty Stott. “He dominated us, and he got better as the game went on.”
Edwards started and pitched five innings, allowing just five hits and two earned runs. Harris relieved and pitched two innings, allowing a single hit and an unearned run. Both Wolverines struck out three.
“Avery pitched great,” Stott said. “I don’t typically like to throw a righthander with a little velocity against Owen, because historically that’s what they like. But I decided over the weekend to go with Avery. This was his most impressive start, considering it was against Owen.
“I thought they would be the conference favorite before the season started. Owen’s got a really good team. Avery went out there and battled. Tyler came in and he pitched well.”
Owen (6-5, 4-2) got all the runs it needed in the fifth inning. Brian Bartlett opened the top of the fifth with a deep double to left-center. Bartlett moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on Kobe Bartlett’s sharp single to left. Kobe Bartlett then stole second, moved to third on a pitch that got free behind home plate and scored on Parker’s sacrifice fly to give Owen a 2-0 lead.
The Warhorses added an insurance run in the sixth as Nathan Fulbright struck out, but reached base when the third strike was dropped and rolled free. Fulbright stole second, moved to third on a grounder and scored on another delivery that got loose.
Polk advanced just one runner into scoring position in the game, and that came in the seventh as Pickett singled with one out and pinch runner Brett Phipps moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt. But Parker got the final two outs to preserve the shutout.
Wolverine freshman Sedric Pickett was 2-for-3 and Holden Owens had a single to account for Polk’s hitting.
“They were opportunistic and got runs when they could, and we weren’t,” Stott said. “We didn’t give ourselves those situations.”
Polk County is scheduled to host Christ School on Thursday, though a weather forecast currently calling for rain throughout the day could affect those plans.
