Strong pitching powers No. 6 Polk County past Avery

A day after winning a slugfest at North Henderson, Polk County rode its pitching Tuesday to another win.

Ashley Scruggs and Haley Fowler teamed on a two-hitter as the Wolverines, ranked sixth in this week’s North Carolina Softball Coaches Association 2A poll, blanked Avery 8-0 in a Western Highlands Conference softball game at Polk.

Scruggs struck out eight in five innings before Fowler came on in relief and struck out four in the final two innings.

“That’s what we expect to do defensively,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm.

The Wolverines wasted no time in setting the tone offensively, scoring six runs in the first inning. With one out, Hayley Kropp, Autumn Owen and Maranda Gosnell drilled consecutive singles. Following a walk to Scruggs, Karli Wood singled. Avery got the second out of the inning, but errors on ground balls by Ansley Lynch and Morgan Stott prolonged the inning and allowed Polk to build its 6-0 lead.

Owen added a two-run homer in the fourth inning for the rest of the Wolverines’ scoring.

“Offensively, we had eight hits,” Alm said. “We showed yesterday that when we’re all hitting together, we’re a dangerous team.

“We’ve got high expectations for our hitters. It’s still early, and we’ll get where we need to be.”

The Wolverines travel Thursday to Pisgah to face the 3A Bears, traditionally one of the top teams in the mountains. Polk will then journey down I-26 on Monday to face Union County, defending South Carolina 3A state champions, in a game to be played at USC Upstate.

“We want to play tough competition to push us to get ready for the playoffs,” Alm said. “We’re looking for super-competitive teams to play. Those are the games that make you better.”