Polk County split a pair of non-conference games Saturday at The Slugfest in The Bottoms, falling to Tuscola 10-6 in an early-morning encounter before coming back to notch a walk-off 7-6 win over Brevard.
Polk County 7, Brevard 6
Nate Fagan doubled home Noah Harden with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Polk County rallied to edge Brevard 7-6.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Brevard tied the game at 6-6 with three runs in the top of the seventh before Polk County answered in the bottom half. Harden led off with a double and scored on Fagan’s line drive to left field.
Gunnar Alm powered the Wolverines’ offense with two home runs and three RBI. He hit a solo shot in the first inning and added a two-run homer in the second to give Polk County a 5-3 lead.
Brevard scored three runs in the second inning to tie the game at 3-3 before Alm’s second homer put the Wolverines ahead. Fagan’s RBI single in the fifth extended the lead to 6-3.
Alm finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a stolen base. Fagan went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and a run, while Gavin Waldbillig added two hits and an RBI. Harden contributed a hit, two runs and a double, and Matthew Foy had one hit.
Fagan started on the mound and pitched two innings. Foy pitched four innings of relief, allowing two hits with one strikeout. Harden earned the win with one inning of relief.
Tuscola 10, Polk County 6
Tuscola built a 4-0 lead through six innings, racked up six runs in the top of the seventh, then survived Polk County’s own six-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh.
That final rally began for the Wolverines when Cooper Meyer and Zalen McCraw walked to open the seventh and Aaron Jackson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Following two strikeouts, Alex Perry’s RBI single scored Meyer, Harden’s bases-loaded walk brought home McCraw, and Fagan’s two-run single cut the deficit to 10-4.
A balk scored Harden, and McCraw’s RBI single made it 10-6 before the Mountaineers got the final out to end the game.
Fagan led Polk County with two hits and two RBI. Alm, Perry, Harden, Waldbillig and McCraw each added one hit.
Polk County (2-3) opens Western Highlands Conference play on Tuesday at Owen.
