Hayley Kropp hammered a grand slam Monday to give Polk County a lead it would never relinquish en route to a 6-4 season-opening road victory over Gaffney, S.C.
Kropp’s third-inning blast helped power Polk County to a win in the debut for first-year head coach Billy Alm.
Trailing 1-0, Polk began to rally in the top of the third, loading the bases on an Ansley Lynch bunt single, a walk to Morgan Stott and a Haley Fowler bunt single. That brought Kropp to the plate, and the senior cleared the bases with her homer to give the Wolverines a 4-1 lead.
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Kropp added an RBI single in the fifth, then scored on Autumn Owen’s single for Polk’s final runs.
Ashley Scruggs earned the win, scattering five hits while striking out two.
Kropp finished 3-for-4 with five RBI. Fowler had two hits, scored twice and stole a base while Owen was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI and Lynch was 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Alm cited three defensive plays as key to the win – Ashley Ponder making a diving catch in right field in the first inning, Karli Wood throwing out a runner at third in the fourth and Kropp stopping a grounder up the middle in the fifth.
Polk County is back in action on Wednesday, traveling to North Buncombe for a 5 p.m. game.
