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Extra innings proved extra special Thursday for Polk County.

The Wolverines exploded for seven runs in the top of the eighth to take an 11-4 win over Patton in a Mountain Foothills 7 Conference matchup in Morganton.

Polk County improved to 5-8 and 1-5 in league play with its first conference win of the season. Patton dropped to 4-6, 1-3.

 

How it happened: First-inning home runs from Gunnar Alm and Angus Weaver gave Polk an early 2-0 lead, and the Wolverines held a 3-0 advantage after three innings thanks to doubles from Alm and Avery Hensley.

Polk then upped the margin to 4-0 in the fifth as Alm singled, stole second, stole third and scored on a Patton error.

But Patton put together a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, evening the score, and neither team tallied in the final two innings to set the stage for the wild eighth.

Weaver walked to open the inning, stole second, moved to third on an error on the play and scored on a wild pitch. Walks to Noah Harden and Karson Scruggs preceded Mason Beiler’s RBI double to center to make it 6-4.

A walk to Alex Perry loaded the bases, and Alex Tipton singled to center to score two and make it 8-4. A wild pitch allowed Perry to score before Alm walked.

An error on a Lawson Carter popup plated Tipton, with Alm reaching third, and he later scored on a wild pitch.

 

At the plate: Alm finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, four runs scored and four stolen bases, one shy of the school record for an individual game. Tipton, Weaver, Hensley, Harden, Beiler and Perry each had one hit.

 

On the mound: Harden pitched two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, striking out three and allowing one hit. Perry started and pitched five innings, giving up six hits, four earned runs and striking out three.

Carter pitched a scoreless seventh.

Polk County is slated to travel Monday to East Henderson for a non-conference meeting.