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Small ball proved big Tuesday for Polk County.

As did another stellar mound effort from junior Noah Harden.

The Wolverines made the most of every scoring opportunity, including pushing across two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure a 6-4 victory over Starmount in the opening round of the state 1A playoffs.

It marked the first postseason win for the Wolverines at The Bottoms since 2019, and it earned Polk County a trip Friday to Christ The King, where the Wolverines (11-12) will face the Crusaders (15-7). Game time is to be announced.

After Starmount (11-11) scored three runs in the top of the first off starter Nate Fagan, Harden took the mound to open the second inning and silenced the Rams. He allowed four hits and a run, striking out two, in improving his record this season to a sparkling 8-1.

“We decided to go with Nate because we felt like our defense was stronger behind him,” said Polk County head coach Billy Alm. “They scored three runs, so we figured we’d change it up and we brought Noah out.

“Noah’s our John Smoltz. He’s 8-1 now.”

Starmount outhit Polk County 9-5, but the Wolverines were efficient and timely with those five knocks.

The Rams pushed across a run in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-4 game, with Fagan making a pair of defensive stops on hard-hit ground balls to prevent any further damage. Starmount had runners on second and third with one out and got just the one run on H Royal’s groundout.

Polk’s winning rally began with one out, as Mason Beiler drilled a base hit down the left-field line, moving to second on an errant throw from the outfield. With two outs, Starmount intentionally walked Gunnar Alm, bringing senior Mark Jarrett to the plate.

Facing an 0-2 count, Jarrett slashed a hard grounder through the left side of the Ram infield, allowing pinch runner Matthew Jarrett to score and Alm to move to third on the throw to the plate. That proved vital as a passed ball allowed Alm to sprint home with an insurance run for the Wolverines.

“Mark Jarrett swung the bat the best he has this season,” Billy Alm said. “He barrelled three balls tonight. He only had the one hit, but it was a big hit. The ball he barrelled to second moved Gunnar to third and we ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly.

“We played some small ball tonight because we couldn’t really get it going at the plate.”

The Rams rapped out five hits in the opening inning, with T Blevins’ single to right plating two runs and giving Starmount an early 3-0 lead.

Polk slowly began to chip away at that deficit. Avrey Hensley opened the second with a double to left-center, then scored on an infield error on Beiler’s two-out grounder.

Alm opened the third with the first of his three walks, stole second, took third on Jarrett’s groundout and then scored on Scruggs’ sacrifice fly to center, making it 3-2.

The Wolverines stranded two runners in the fourth, but took the lead in the fifth. Alm walked, Jarrett was hit by a pitch and Scruggs drilled a base hit to center to score Alm, tying the score.

With one out and runners at second and third, Alex Perry lofted a fly ball to deep center that allowed Jarrett to easily score, putting Polk up 4-3.

The Rams would even the score in their next at-bat. Polk would then seize the advantage for good in its ensuing turn.

“We faced some adversity tonight and we did well,” Billy Alm said. “Now it’s on to the next round.”