The Lady Wolverines continued their road trip Friday, this time dropping in to Burnsville to pay a visit to Mountain Heritage High School. Though optimistic following his team’s 15-0 trouncing of North Buncombe, Coach Jeff Wilson cautioned his young squad against overconfidence heading into their first conference game of the year. The Lady Cougars team they were about to face had already defeated North Henderson, a squad that had handed Polk its only loss of the year.
Turns out Wilson had little to be concerned about, as Polk ace Jamie Hrobak brought her A-game to Yancey County. Continuing her dominance over opposing batters, Hrobak pitched a masterpiece, striking out 14, walking none and allowing just two hits as the Wolverines downed a very talented Mountain Heritage team by a final score of 5-0.
“Jamie had just an unbelievable, dominating performance tonight,” said Wilson.
Indeed, Hrobak exhibited remarkable control, moving the ball inside and out with precision as she recorded her fifth win of the season and 34th win of her career. The junior hurler faced just two batters over the minimum, as Polk’s defense backed her with error-free play.
In particular, Wilson praised the defensive play of Alicia Lockhart, filling in for two time All State catcher Alyssa Montgomery, who took the night off defensively to rest a sprained ankle.
“Alicia turned in a great performance today,” said Wilson.
Although the Lady Wolverines notched their first run of the game in the second inning, with Yancy Pace ripping an RBI double to score Shea Wheeler, the game remained close until the top of the fifth when Polk’s “small ball” offense took over. Pace once again led off with a base hit, followed by a walk to Shayln Brown. Up next, Amber Lynch legged out a bunt single, with Pace scoring on an error. Montgomery and Cassie Couch each added RBIs as Polk went on to tally four runs in the fifth and put the game on ice.
“I’m just real proud of the girls today,” said Wilson, adding “I couldn’t have asked for a much better game.”
Polk returns home for three games this week, including matchups with conference foes Mitchell and Avery and a non-conference game Thursday versus powerhouse Swain County, the number one ranked 1A team in the state.