With pitching options in short supply Monday, Polk County needed a solid outing from senior starter Wes Brady.
Boy, did they get one.
Brady twirled a masterful one-hit shutout of Avery, shutting out the Vikings while turning in a complete game in the Wolverines’ 6-0 win in Western Highlands Conference action at Polk County.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Konner Scruggs had two hits and Mark Mazzilli a triple to back Brady, the Lenoir-Rhyne signee who also had two hits and struck out eight in the win. With Daniel Painter still nursing a tender arm, plus throwing 88 pitches on Friday, and Morgan Groves throwing eight innings last week, Brady’s complete game was everything the Wolverines could have hoped for Monday and more.
“Wes did what we needed him to do,” said Polk County head coach Ty Stott. “We didn’t have a lot of arms ready to go.
“You don’t see a lot of shutouts and complete games, especially in this day. We didn’t want to have to throw Daniel or Morgan tonight.”
Brady drove in the game’s first run in the bottom of the first, beginning a pattern in which Polk scored in every inning but one, but only scored more than once in the third inning. Stott expects that to be a familiar refrain this season.
“Tonight we did what we’ve been talking about in that we kept tacking on runs,” he said. “I don’t thing we had a three-run innings, but we kept tacking on runs here and there. We’re not going to be the kind of team that bangs out a bunch of hits.”
After a 1-5 start to the season, the Wolverines have now won three straight, all conference games, and head to Erwin on Thursday looking to get back to .500.
“4-5 is a lot better than 1-5,” Stott said. “I think we’ve come back niclely. Now we’ve got a non-conference game we definitely can win and even our record up.”
Note: An earlier version of this story said Brady allowed two hits and Mazzilli had two hits.
Look for more about the Wolverines and their Western Highlands Conference hopes later this week on PolkSports.com
