Polk County flashed Tuesday the tenacious, never-say-die spirit that ran throughout its 2015 softball season.
And it very nearly enabled the Wolverines to fight another day.
Polk County staged a dramatic seventh-inning rally to force extra innings in its 2A third-round playoff game with Franklin, but just as theatrically, Franklin senior Madison Cousineau hammered a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to lift the Panthers to a 4-2 victory.
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The loss ends Polk County’s season at 21-4. It will not end the memories of this squad, especially in how the team battled to keep its state championship dreams alive.
Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, Polk’s rally began with a base hit by Karli Wood. One out later, a walk to Autumn Owen put the tying run on base, though Franklin was able to breathe a bit easier after Hayley Kropp hit into a fielder’s choice for the inning’s second out.
That brought freshman Maranda Gosnell to the plate, where Gosnell hammered a line drive to left-center. Owen raced home from second, and Polk County head coach Jeff Wilson never hesitated in waving home Kropp, who crossed the plate with the tying run.
But the ecstasy of the rally would be short-lived as Cousineau, a Mississippi State signee, crushed a pitch over the center-field fence to send Franklin (19-5) into a fourth-round meeting with Parkwood, who defeated R-S Central on Tuesday.
“I’m so proud of this team and the way they play,” Wilson said. “We made a lot of good defensive plays today.
“All year long we talked about situations like this. One run wasn’t going to mean anything. We had to play for two runs or three runs. We got the two runs, but couldn’t get the three.”
The Wolverines managed five hits against Franklin pitcher Haeli Bryson, but did have some scoring opportunities, including a bases-loaded chance in the second. Gosnell finished 2-for-4 and Kropp, Haley Fowler and Wood added base hits.
The loss meant saying goodbye to four seniors – Kassidy Reynolds, Maddy Foy, Ashley Kropp and Alexis McCraw – who helped the program win 80 games and two conference titles over the past four seasons. McCraw and Kropp teamed for one of the plays of the day Tuesday, McCraw throwing out a Franklin runner at home to end the top of the sixth.
“Not a lot of people win 20 games three out of four years or average 20 wins,” Wilson said. “Those are four great girls, and those four girls are going to be missed.”
