Playoff notes, look at week ahead in Polk County sports
Championships, playoff berths – the week ahead promises to be an interesting one in Polk County athletics.
May has arrived, bringing along postseason play in all spring sports. A number of Polk teams will take part beginning this week in playoff competition while others will look to perhaps bolster their postseason hopes.
Though not in team competition, Polk County’s Banks Barber will start play Friday in the 2A West Regional Individual Tennis Tournament at Gardner-Webb University while Brody Wilkins will represent Polk Middle in the Blue Ridge Conference golf tourney.
Here’s a sport by sport look at what’s happening this week and any postseason implications:
Baseball
Tuesday, May 2
Brevard JV at Polk County JV, 4 p.m.
Brevard at Polk County, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 3
Polk County JV at Madison JV, 4 p.m.
Polk County at Madison, 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 4
Polk County JV at Brevard JV, 4 p.m.
Polk County at Brevard, 6 p.m.
Playoff notes: Polk County begins the week ranked 34th in 2A West RPI. There are 32 playoff berths in the West bracket, and the Wolverines may need to climb to 31st to have a shot at one.
Polk also needs to move past Brevard in the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference standings, so the likelihood is that the Wolverines will need to win at Madison and sweep Brevard to have a playoff shot. Two wins are probably the minimum needed.
Boys Golf
Tuesday, May 2
Polk County vs. MF7 Schools, Meadowbrook Golf Club, 1 p.m.
Playoff notes: Polk County will complete its push for its second conference championship in three years, though its first in the MF7, on Tuesday. The MF7 uses season-long composite scores to determine its champ, and Polk currently leads by more than 100 strokes.
Girls Soccer
Monday, May 1
Polk County Middle at Macon Middle, 4:30 p.m.
Chase at Polk County, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
Polk County at East Rutherford, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 4
Polk County at Brevard, 6 p.m.
Playoff notes: Polk Middle will open the Blue Ridge Conference Tournament on Monday at Macon Middle, the top seed from the BRC West Division.
Polk County currently sits 10th in the 2A West RPI. The Wolverines are currently tied for second in the MF7 standings, but should easily earn a playoff berth even if Brevard or East Rutherford surges into the second spot.
The Wolverines, though, could get a first-round home match even if they don’t finish second in the league. Doing so is going to require Polk to keep its RPI as high as possible, which means continuing to win. If the season ended today, Polk would be the 14th seed, with the 16 top teams getting first-round home matches.
There are a lot of factors in play with a week-plus left in the regular season, but winning as many of its four remaining matches as possible would go a long way in keeping Polk County in the running for a home playoff match.
Softball
Monday, May 1
Polk County Middle at Macon Middle, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
Brevard at Polk County, 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 4
Polk County at Brevard, 5:30 p.m.
Playoff notes: Polk Middle will also open the Blue Ridge Conference Tournament on Monday at Macon Middle, the top seed from the BRC West Division.
Polk County begins the week ranked 38th in the 2A West RPI. Even with two wins this week over Brevard, moving up into the top 32 is likely going to be challenging for the Wolverines as its rating doesn’t include Friday’s loss to East Rutherford.
Track and Field
Wednesday, May 3
Polk County at Mountain Foothills 7 Conference Championships, G.M. Tennant Stadium, 2 p.m.
Polk County Middle at BRC Championships, North Henderson, 4:30 p.m.
Playoff notes: It’s championship week for all Polk County track and field athletes as the high school and middle school Wolverines take part Wednesday in conference meets.
Polk County will have the luxury of hosting the MF7 meet, and based on this season’s performances, the Wolverine boys have a solid shot at scoring a conference crown. The Polk girls will have to overcome R-S Central and Brevard to have a shot at a team title.
