The pain stayed constant Tuesday afternoon on Ashley Ponder’s face.
Drilled on the left arm in the second inning by a Savannah Rice fastball (though an umpire’s ruling denied her first base), then struck on the right forearm by an errant throw as she ran to first on a grounder, Ponder nonetheless remained in Polk County’s lineup Tuesday, determined to do what she could to help the Wolverines top Madison.
As did all the Polk County lineup in a must-win game that didn’t end how anyone in blue and white wanted, Madison taking advantage of untimely Polk miscues to eke out a 2-1 win in a key Western Highlands Conference showdown.
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The loss, the Wolverines’ third straight, likely ends any hopes that Polk County (7-4, 3-2) had of a repeat WHC regular-season title. Madison (10-1, 6-0) now owns a sweep of Polk, with the Wolverines in third place a game behind Owen. The two Patriot wins each came by one-run margins, none more frustrating than Tuesday.
Both Madison runs were unearned thanks to Wolverine miscues. Madison scored once in the third on an infield hit, a walk and a two-out error and another in the fifth on two Polk errors. The Patriots finished the game with three hits.
“Scruggsy pitched a gem,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm of pitcher Ashley Scruggs, who struck out four. “A couple of plays in the field and our bats were quiet. We’ve got to learn how to handle the pressure a little bit better.”
Silenced much of the game, the Polk offense finally came to life in the sixth, very nearly tying the score.
With one out, Haley Fowler reached first on an infield error, then scored when Hayley Kropp hammered a line-drive double to the fence in left-center. Autumn Owen reached on an error on a grounder back to the mound, and Polk suddenly had both the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
Maranda Gosnell then drilled a hard grounder down the third-base line. Madison third baseman Alicia Nix not only snared the ball with a backhanded stop, but took a step and tagged third to force out Kropp, then fired a bullet to first to just beat Gosnell, the double play ending the inning.
Kropp also singled in the first inning, the only two hits Polk County had in the game against Rice, the freshman standout who has emerged as Madison’s starter.
Polk County hosts West Henderson on Thursday in a non-conference game, then treks to Mountain Heritage on Friday for its last game before spring break. A pair of battles with Owen will await once the Wolverines return.
“We still haven’t played Owen, and you have to be in the top two to be guaranteed a playoff spot, so the pressure is on,” Alm said.
