Defense, Scruggs shut down Brevard as Polk’s playoff march continues

From the outset of Saturday’s playoff game against Brevard, a large and loud Polk County crowd gave Wolverine pitcher Ashley Scruggs all the backing it could muster.

It didn’t begin to compare to the support Scruggs got on the field from her teammates.

The Wolverine defense making plays nearly every inning, Polk County held off Brevard, 2-1, in a 2A second-round state playoff game at Polk County.

With the win, Polk County (21-3) moves into the third round, where the Wolverines will host Franklin, likely on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Scruggs held Brevard (19-5) to six hits, striking out five, including fanning Nijayah Cruell for the final out with the potential tying run on second base. Scruggs retired eight of the final nine batters she faced, one of those outs coming in the fifth inning on a nice running catch by Alexis McCraw in center, another coming on the final out in the sixth on a spectacular diving catch in right by Kinsley Jackson.

“I thought we could really do it, and I thought about the girls behind me and how hard they were working behind me and how hard I needed to work,” Scruggs said. “I couldn’t do it without them.

“Our team, we really are a family. Before the game we all ate lunch together at Southern Manners. We just have this bond.”

Tied at 1 after the first inning, Polk County scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third.

Autumn Owen walked to open the inning before Hayley Kropp lined a single to left. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Brevard starter Casey Gilbert induced a popup from Maranda Gosnell, then an infield grounder from Scruggs, Brevard throwing home to nip a sliding Owen for the inning’s second out.

Freshman Haley Fowler then stroked a single to right that easily scored Kropp, giving Polk the 2-1 lead.

The Wolverines’ defense made certain that edge would stand, especially in the fifth inning, when Ashley Kropp threw out Gilbert at second trying to steal and then McCraw made her running catch to end the inning with a runner on third.

Brevard left runners on third base to end three different innings.

“Our defense was awesome,” said Polk County head coach Jeff Wilson. “We really had good foucs. I have to give a lot of credit to Phillip Miller, our outfield coach. I’m proud of what they did. I thought Ashley Scruggs pitched a really good game, staying with the framework of her arsenal.

“Offensively, I was really proud of how we attacked. We got just enough.”

Brevard turned a walk, error and sacrifice fly into a run in the first inning, but Polk responded with a tying run in the bottom of the inning. Hayley Kropp dropped a single into shallow left, then moved to second on Scruggs’ two-out single to center. Fowler followed with an infield dribbler between the mound and third base that Gilbert fielded, but threw wide of first, allowing Kropp to race around and score.

Kropp’s two hits led Polk County, with Scruggs, Fowler and Karli Wood adding singles.