Explosive third inning powers Wolverines in home opener

It took some time Tuesday for Polk County to find its timing.

But once the Wolverines did, runs soon followed. Polk County exploded for seven runs in the third inning en route to a 10-2 win over Mountain Heritage in Western Highlands Conference softball action at Polk.

The Wolverines (3-1, 1-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but had their issues early in adjusting to slower pitching than they saw in their first three games.

But the third inning changed all of that. Haley Fowler opened the inning with a single, Hayley Kropp and Autumn Owen followed with doubles and that set the stage for the seven-run rally, which also featured singles by Ashley Scruggs and Ansley Lynch and a triple by Fowler.

“The first time through, we weren’t seeing smoke for the first time,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm. “They threw a slow pitcher at us, and it took us a while to make an approach change at the plate. That carried us for a couple of innings, then we went back to our old approach.

“This is our first conference win, and we wanted that, especially after Friday and a tough loss to Madison. We didn’t play with the intensity I expected in our first home game. That’s something we need to work on.”

Scruggs picked up the win, striking out 11. Owen finished 3-for-4 while Ashley Ponder and Lynch were each 2-for-2. Fowler was 2-for-3 and Kropp finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. Polk County had 13 hits in the win.

Mountain Heritage dropped to 2-4, 1-1 with the loss. The Cougars scored once in the fourth then loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. But on a base hit that scored one run, Polk County turned a most unusual double play, with catcher Owen taking a near-perfect throw from right fielder Katelyn Allison, firing to second to catch a Mountain Heritage runner that had gone too far past the base, then taking the return throw from Kropp and tagging out a runner at home.

“The girls have high expectations,” Alm said. “This is how every game is supposed to be, scoring 10 runs or more. We have to start playing to our ability.”

Polk County is back in action Thursday, hosting Asheville Trailblazers.