Two-out rallies too much for Polk to overcome in loss

In each of the final two innings Tuesday, Polk County had two outs on the scoreboard and Hendersonville stopped from adding any runs in the inning.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the third and final out in each frame proved too long in coming.

Hendersonville scored nine runs in the sixth and seventh innings, all with two outs, to rally past Polk County 13-5 in a Western Highlands Conference game at Polk.

The Wolverines (5-16, 2-9) trailed 4-0 early, but scored three runs in the second inning, then single runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 5-4 lead after five.

Hendersonville (7-11, 5-7) got two runners on with one out in the top of the sixth before Polk catcher Sedric Pickett made a nice play on a bunt attempt, forcing the lead runner at third for the inning’s second out. But Zach Wolfe laced a single to left to tie the score, then Sawyer Hunt walked to load the bases.

That brought Bearcat catcher Michael Schmidt to the plate with the bases loaded – until Schmidt cleared them, hammering a deep fly ball to the fence in right-center for a three-run triple. Jordan Strickland followed with a double to the fence in left-center to give Hendersonville a 9-5 edge.

“We tried to get out of there without getting their best hitter up,” said Polk County head coach Ty Stott about Schmidt. “We didn’t get out of there without their best hitter getting up, and he showed why he’s their best hitter.”

The Bearcats scored four runs in the top of the seventh, all with two outs, including a two-run double by Schmidt.

Polk County’s offense came to life in the bottom of the second after Hendersonville took its four-run lead. Noah Howell doubled to open the inning, and the Wolverines loaded the bases with one out after a Daniel Painter walk and Cory Skipper infield single. Pickett’s grounder to short brought home one run, a Bearcat error added another and J.D. Edwards singled to make it 4-3.

Polk tied the game in the fourth on base hits by Holden Owens and Brian Dadson, then took the lead in the fifth as Zach Foy singled, moved to third on a Bearcat error and scored on Tyler Harris’ sacrifice fly.

That lead would last until the top of the sixth.

“We showed the kind of team we can be after scoring those three runs,” Stott said. “We pitched a lot better and played with a lot more fire.”