North Henderson opened an early 5-1 lead Wednesday and held off a Polk County comeback, taking an 8-5 win in a non-conference baseball matchup in Hendersonville.

The Knights improved to 1-3 with the win while Polk County dropped to 3-2.

How it happened: Polk County took an early 1-0 lead on Angus Weaver’s two-our RBI single, but the Knights responded with two runs in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of a base hit, walk, two errors and a balk in the inning.

Another Polk error helped North add a run in the second, then the Knights scored two more in the third inning on Salvador Geronimo’s double, grabbing the 5-1 advantage.

But Polk began to rally in the fourth. Noah Harden and Avery Hensley singled, with Gunnar Alm’s one-out grounder moving Harden to third and forcing out Hensley at second. With two outs, Alm induced a rundown that allowed Harden to score to cut the deficit to 5-2.

The Wolverines scored again in the fifth on Karson Scruggs’ RBI double to trim the margin to two, only to see the Knights score twice in the sixth to push the lead back to 8-3.

Polk opened the top of the seventh with Alex Tipton reaching on an error, Lawson Carter drawing a walk and both runners moving up a base on a passed ball. An error on Weaver’s infield grounded allowed Alex Tipton to score, and Carter scored on Scruggs’ fielder’s choice that forced Weaver at second.

North Henderson then got the final two outs of the game on infield grounders to seal the win.

At the plate: Harden went 2-for-3 and Tipton and Scruggs each finished 2-for-4 to pace Polk’s offense. Weaver and Hensley each added a base hit.

On the mound: Alex Perry took the loss, allowing four hits, striking out four and allowing three earned runs in three innings. Harden pitched a scoreless fourth with two strikeouts and Scruggs pitched the final two inning, giving up four hits and three earned runs.

Next up: The two teams are scheduled to meet again Friday at The Bottoms for Polk County’s home opener, weather permitting.