An out away Friday from wrapping up an outright Western Highlands Conference championship, Polk County’s dream day turned into a bit of a nightmare.
Owen pushed across five runs in the top of the seventh inning, all with two outs, and held on for a 7-4 win over the Wolverines in a WHC matchup at Polk.
Anissa Avelia laced a bases-loaded single and Caitlyn Ledford crushed a three-run homer as the Warhorses (8-5-1, 8-3) handed Polk County (17-3, 10-1) its first conference loss of the season. The Wolverines are already assured of being the league’s top postseason seed and can still claim sole possession of the WHC crown with a win at Hendersonville on Tuesday.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Shocked by Owen’s late rally, Polk County still fought back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases before a questionable third strike call on Autumn Owen ended the comeback.
“The thing I took out of this game, more than the loss, is that we got the winning run to the plate after a five-run disaster,” said Polk County head coach Jeff Wilson. “You talk about mental toughness. They showed that today.
“This team is not accustomed to losing, but one of the seniors said after the game, we just need to shake this off and win Tuesday and we can still be outright conference champions.”
Owen freshman sensation Jaiden Tweed held Polk County to four hits and struck out 14 in the win, but the Wolverines still led throughout the first six innings, scoring two runs in the first and keeping that edge until the seventh. Maranda Gosnell had two hits, Hayley Kropp had an RBI single and Ashley Kropp was 1-for-3 on a day when Polk County honored its four seniors before the game.
The Wolverines step out of conference play on Monday, hosting North Buncombe at 4:30 p.m.
