Stott said when his boys took the field he told them to keep their minds off the playoffs. As far as they should be concerned Monday night, the playoffs didn’t exist, he said.

“That [conference] win lasts forever. No one ever remembers how far they went in the playoffs, but with the conference championship you’ve got something to show for it,” Stott said he told his Wolverines. “The conference championship is all about what you’ve done over the entire season. Our whole season was about maintaining … you can have a bad game, but you can’t have a bad week. You’ve got to deal with adversity.”

And Polk faced plenty of adversity with more injuries this season than Stott said he’s ever dealt with in any other year. Brady was hurt twice in the season, as well as Cameron Hoots who was out for the season with a back injury, Stott said. And though Taft played other positions, he had to miss five games as a pitcher.

Working past those challenges, Polk now boasts a 14-7 overall record and 12-2 in the WHC.

This win also places the Wolverines in the top WHC 2-A seed for the state playoffs.

State playoffs start Friday, May 11 with Polk playing Smoky Mountain at home.