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R-S Central raced to an early three-run lead and held off a late Polk County rally to claim a 7-3 victory Friday in a Mountain Foothills 7 Conference softball game at Polk.

 

The Wolverines slipped to 7-10 overall, 2-6 in conference play. The Hilltoppers improved to 14-3, 7-3.

 

How it happened: R-S scored a pair of runs in the top of the first, taking advantage of two Polk County errors. Polk answered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Chloe Young laced a triple down the right-field line and scored on Elizabeth Vitale’s sacrifice fly.

 

The Hilltoppers pushed across two runs in the second, then added another in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. Back again, though, came the Wolverines.

 

Junie Mitchell drew a walk to open the bottom of the fifth, moving to second with one out and then reaching third on Laney Littlefield’s single. Littlefield then stole second, and the catcher’s throw escaped the infield and rolled deep into the outfield, allowing Mitchell to score and Littlefield to race around the bases and also score to cut the deficit to 5-3.

 

But R-S Central put together a two-out rally in the seventh as Hannah Newton walked and Grace Rogers and Madelyn Hasty laced back-to-back doubles to give the Hilltoppers a 7-3 advantage.

 

At the plate: Young finished 2-for-3, with Sarah Vitale, Amberlyn Scruggs and Littlefield each adding a base hit.

 

Next up: East Rutherford, currently leading the MF7 standings, visits Polk County on Tuesday for a 4:30 p.m. game.