S.C. champs outlast Polk in slugfest at USC Upstate

SPARTANBURG – Division I stadium. Division I talent across the field. And a fairly top-division showing from Polk County to match.

First-year Polk County softball coach Billy Alm wanted some tough opponents this season to prepare the Wolverines for postseason play, and they don’t get much tougher than Union County, two-time defending South Carolina 3A state champions. The Yellow Jackets outslugged the Wolverines 10-7 Monday evening in USC Upstate’s picturesque Cyrill Stadium, twice rallying from deficits to upend Polk.

While there were some defensive moments that Polk County (7-3) would no doubt like to have over, the Wolverines more than held their own offensively against the Yellow Jackets (12-1). Autumn Owen and Maranda Gosnell each homered to lead Polk County’s 10-hit attack.

Polk, though, had no answer for Union County freshman Bailey Betenbaugh. Already verbally committed to the University of South Carolina, Betenbaugh homered in consecutive innings and drove in seven runs, including a fourth-inning grand slam that gave Union a lead it would not relinquish.

“We had a better approach at the plate against a very good pitcher,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm. “I thought this was be a battle of the pitchers. It ended up being a slugfest. I expected a 2-1 ball game.”

Which it was – at the end of the first inning. Owen’s two-out single in the top of the first brought Gosnell to the plate, and the sophomore hammered a line drive over the fence in right-center field off Union pitcher Ashley Vinson, a Lander verbal commitment, to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead.

Union responded in the bottom of the first with a leadoff walk to College of Charleston-bound Dexlie Inman and Katelyn Petty’s double down the left-field line to make it 2-1.

Morgan Stott opened the third inning with a single to left field, but remained on the bases with two outs when Owen lofted the first pitch she saw over the fence in right field, upping the lead to 4-1.

But Union scored four runs during a wild bottom of the third that saw three stellar Polk County defensive plays – Ashley Ponder’s running one-hand catch of a fly ball in right, Hayley Kropp gunning down a runner at home from short and Ansley Lynch throwing out a runner at third base from the outfield – along with two Polk errors, a pair of walks and Betenbaugh’s first homer, a three-run shot to center that evened the score. The Jackets added another run later in the inning for a 5-4 lead.

Back came Polk County in the top of the fourth. Karli Wood reached on an error to open the inning and Ponder followed with a single to left. Lynch then dropped a bunt that resulted in an errant throw at first, allowing Wood to score and putting runners on second and third with no outs. One out later, Haley Fowler beat out an infield single that drove in Ponder to give the Wolverines a 6-5 advantage.

Union loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with one out on a pair of walks and a single, and Betenbaugh cleared them with a high fly ball over the fence in left field. The Jackets added another run in the inning to build a 10-6 advantage.

The Wolverines had one more rally in the fifth, as Owen singled, Ashley Scruggs was hit by a pitch and Wood singled to load the bases with one out. Ponder chopped a grounder down the third-base line that brought in Owen and kept the bases loaded, but Union got the final two outs of the inning to escape further damage.

After the frentic middle innings, neither team scored in the final two.

“Scruggs settled down and pitched those last two inning strong,” Alm said of Polk’s junior pitcher. “Our two-strike approach tonight was great. We put balls in play and got a couple of hits and some runs.”

Owen finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, three runs scored and a steal. Gosnell was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Ponder was 2-for-4. Petty, an all-state selection last season who hit over .500, was 3-for-4 to support Betenbaugh’s slugging.

The game featured five current members of the 3rd Degree travel softball squad – Owen, Fowler, Vinson, Petty and Abbie Valentine. Union County head coach Tommy Petty is an assistant coach for the squad, for which Scruggs also previously played.