Polk County baseball suffered a heartbreaking defeat at home against Smoky Mountain Friday, May 11 in the first round of state playoffs.
The Mustangs took down the Wolverines 5-0 early in the game and the score never changed.
PCHS Head Coach Ty Stott said though the Wolverines were matched against a third seed it all came down to who brought their best out Friday night.
“We were 14-0 but didn’t bring our A-game,” Stott said. “They seemed to bring theirs. We just never put the pressure on them.”
Stott said the Wolverines especially needed to put more pressure on the Mustang’s pitcher Friday night.
“We never forced him to adjust or battle the way we needed to,” Stott said. “You’ve got to make him think and we were going up there trying to predict what he was going to do and you can’t do that against a left-handed pitcher.”
Several Wolverines did get on base, including Wes Brady, Alec Philpott, Bryce Martin and others, but the team couldn’t convert those opportunities into scores. Stott said he believed Smoky Mountain and their first-year head coach came into the game feeling they had nothing to lose and put everything on the table.
“They threw everything they had at us tonight,” Stott said.
And in the end he said Smoky Mountain, which the Wolverines beat 8-2 earlier in the year, knew the Wolverines’ weaknesses.
The one weakness that seemed to plague the team all year – injuries – caught up with PCHS again May 11 with pitcher Roberto Taft out. Stott said he believed early on that the Wolverines could be conference champs this year, but he said had someone told him they’d do it with all the injuries they faced, he’d never have believed them.
“I think this field has a lot of magic but not tonight,” Stott said. “It’s depressing for these seniors that it has to end this way but I think that conference championship is really going to mean a lot to a lot of people and that’s something to be proud of.”