Polk Middle outlasts Hendersonville Middle in road thriller

Polk County Middle continued its strong recent play on Thursday, picking up a 13-11 victory at Hendersonville Middle in Blue Ridge Conference softball action.

The Wolverines improved to 4-7 with the win while the Bearcats slipped to 2-8.

How it happened: A wild back-and-forth battle titled Hendersonville’s way after three innings, the Bearcats pushing across eight runs in the third to take a 9-8 edge.

But Sofie Abrahamsen’s one-out single started a string of eight straight Wolverines reaching base, with singles by Ava Evans, Angelina Jackson, Minda McComas, Camdyn Israel-Garrett and Aubrey Bell, Kinsley Lancaster hit by a pitch and Abby Pruitt drawing a walk.

That rally accounted for five runs and a 13-9 lead.

Hendersonville picked up two runs in the bottom of the fourth and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Polk Middle forced the final out to end the game.

At the plate: Evans finished 3-for-3 to lead Polk, with Lancaster and Bell each going 2-for-3. Jackson, McComas, Israel-Garrett, Pruitt, Lucy Tessnair and Abrahamsen each added base hits.

Next up: Polk Middle kicks off the final week of regular-season play on Monday, traveling to Rugby Middle for a 4:30 p.m. game.