The way to double a team’s win total from the previous year, noted Polk County High School varsity baseball coach Ty Stott, is to defeat those teams which one lost to last year.

Including the Wolverines 6-3 win over Madison at Columbus on Thursday, March 12, Polk has topped three teams that beat them last season.

With rested arms available for the invaders from the north last Thursday, the Wolverines (3-2 overall, and 1-0 in the Western Highlands Conference) gave lessons in how to win without hitting the ball out of the park.

Starter Daniel Painter yielded a pair of runs in the first, and then blanked the Patriots for four frames. Konner Scruggs pitched the final two innings, giving up just one run and earning the save.

Stott noted that while the Wolverines don’t often play small ball, that’s what worked in this contest.

With the score tied at two, J.D. Edwards legged out an infield hit. The next batter bunted, with both runners safe on a late throw to second. Painter then bunted, loading the bases for catcher Tyler Campbell who singled to drive in a pair and give Polk a 4-2 lead.

Two more runners scored on Brice Martin’s bunt single.

“It was a game that could have gone either way,” Stott admitted. “It was just a great win. They (the Patriots) won’t be easy to beat next time.” The two squads are scheduled to meet at Marshall on April 17.

With fan involvement this time, said Stott, the game “had a playoff atmosphere. I was impressed with the fact that we got the bunts down. That’s what won the game — executing.”

So much, noted Stott, depends on how one’s pitching lines up. “Baseball’s not always a level playing field,” he said.

Stott likes what his team has showed him this season.

“Out kids have gotten better. They’re playing like a team that’s come out of a 16-7 season (rather than the Wolverines’ reversed record of 2014). We’ve got to play better. They’ve decided to do it.”

Conference rivalry continues this Tuesday evening, when the Wolverines visit Mountain Heritage. Asheville Christian Academy comes to Columbus on Thursday, as do the Mitchell Mountaineers on Friday.

So far, said Stott, “We’re doing what we need to do.”