Polk County outlasted Mountain Heritage in a slugfest Friday, downing the Cougars 17-13 in a Western Highlands Conference softball matchup in Burnsville.

The Wolverines (13-4, 10-2) brought home their ninth straight win with their third straight game scoring in double digits. Polk has racked up 50 runs in its last three games.

Polk County clinched an automatic playoff berth with the win, as the Wolverines are assured of being the top 1A team in the conference.

The Wolverines needed those runs, too, as Mountain Heritage (3-10, 3-8) delivered its best offensive showing of the season.

A 3-2 game after one inning, Polk County exploded in the second inning for seven runs. A Maranda Gosnell two-run single, a Karli Wood home run and an Ansley Lynch two-run single highlighted an inning in which Polk County sent 12 batters to the plate, taking a 10-2 lead.

The advantage stood at 11-5 when Polk County scored four more times in the fourth inning. Gosnell hammered a two-run homer, and Autumn Owen laced her second triple of the game to fuel that rally.

Mountain Heritage cut the deficit to 15-8 with a three-run fourth, then added another run to make it 15-9 after five.

Polk pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh as Wood singled, Hannah Emory doubled and Morgan Stott added a run-scoring grounder. The Cougars pushed across four runs in the bottom of the seventh before Haley Fowler notched a strikeout to end the game.

Wood finished 4-for-5, with Owen going 3-for-5 and Emory adding a 3-for-4 day. Gosnell finished 2-for-5.

The two teams are slated to meet again Tuesday at Polk County at 4 p.m.

-Submitted by PolkSports.com