It wasn’t exactly the way Polk County baseball coach Ty Stott planned to fill out the opening day lineup card, but there it was – Wolverine ace pitcher Lucas Cash penciled in as DH in the #5 spot.
Cash, who suffered an injury to his throwing arm in a preseason scrimmage versus Brevard, would not be taking the hill to open the season against the Falcons of West Henderson.
“I felt good throwing to the first three (Brevard hitters), but after a couple of pitches to the fourth batter, (my arm) started to hurt and I took myself out of the game,” Cash said at the season opener Thursday, March 3 versus the West Henderson Falcons. A doctor’s visit confirmed what Cash (and the rest of the Wolverine coaches and players) had hoped to hear – the diagnosis was likely a mild bout of tendonitis, a condition requiring a relatively short rest.
“The doctor said that since (my arm) didn’t hurt after I stopped throwing, it was probably just tendonitis and not something more serious like ligament damage,” said Cash. “I’m taking it one day at a time, but I hope to be back for either Madison or Mountain Heritage.”
Polk is scheduled to play Madison at home on Tuesday, March 15 and travels to Mountain Heritage the following Friday, March 18.
Undaunted by the absence of their ace hurler, the Wolverine pitching staff combined for a solid opening day performance, allowing just five hits and shutting out a Falcon team that has struggled in the early going this season. Dakota Turner started for the Wolverines and pitched a solid 3-1/3 innings, giving up just three hits and walking two.
In the top of the fourth, with one out and Falcon runners at the corners, Stott tapped Alec Philpott to relieve Turner. The sophomore, pitching in his first varsity contest for the Wolverines, came up huge, striking out the final two batters to end the inning. Philpott went on to allow just two more hits.
Roberto Taft took the mound to close out the seventh, striking out two of the final three batters and preserving the 9-0 shutout.
Polk’s offense, expected to be a strong point this season, did not disappoint. With the Wolverines up 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Joel Booker went yard on West’s Michael Perry, driving a fastball over the 345-foot sign in center field. Booker finished the game 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs.Catcher Rooster Ross went 2 for 4 with a double, and Alec Philpott helped his own cause at the plate with two hits and two RBIs, including a double to the gap in left center in the bottom of the fourth.
The Wolverines are back on the diamond Tuesday, March 8, hosting the defending 2A state champion East Rutherford Cavaliers.