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Start to finish, Friday evening did not prove one to remember for Polk County’s baseball team.

 

The Wolverines lost their top hitter before their home opener with East Henderson began and then struggled defensively in a 15-1 loss to the Eagles at The Bottoms.

 

East Henderson upped its record to 3-2, with Polk County falling to 3-3.

 

How it happened: Wind dominated the evening, with gusts topping 20 miles per hour throughout the game. Also impacting the night was a pregame injury to Polk catcher Alex Tipton, the Wolverines’ leading hitter, who missed the contest as a result.

 

East Henderson pushed across a run in the first on two hits, then added another in the third on two Polk County errors and a base hit. The Wolverines, though, responded in the bottom of the third with their lone run of the game.

 

Landen Bradley was hit by a pitch to open the inning, followed by a walk to Gunnar Alm. Bradley was retired at third on Alex Perry’s bunt, but Alm moved to third later in the play and then scored on Lawson Carter’s infield grounder.

 

Three straight Polk errors led to East Henderson scoring three runs in the fifth to grab a 5-1 lead. The Eagles then put together a 10-run rally in the seventh, scoring all of those runs with two outs and aided by a series of Polk fielding miscues.

 

The Wolverines finished the evening with 10 errors.

 

At the plate: Polk County had five hits, those coming from Perry, Carter, Angus Weaver, Noah Harden and Bryson Jones. East Henderson pitchers Reese Alverson and Peyton Maybin teamed to strike out 10 in the win.

 

On the mound: Harden took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs, one earned, in four innings of work.

 

Alm pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs, three earned, on three hits. Karson Scruggs pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up three hits and seven runs, all of those unearned.

 

Next up: Polk County travels Tuesday to Chase for its Mountain Foothills 7 Conference opener.