It may not have been the way Travis Watson had imagined his team would go about it, but Sweetwater stayed perfect in District 3-2A play on Wednesday, surviving Polk County’s best efforts and winning 11-7 at home.
Freshman Brody Watson totaled three hits and two RBIs — including a vital two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. The Wildcat (14-4; 6-0) bats combined for 14 hits and 11 RBIs while four defensive errors showed the signs of a disjointed week.
“I think this group has matured and went through some growing pains. But I do feel like they came out a little flat today after winning at Polk. I think we came in kind of lackadaisical today, especially from a defensive standpoint,” Travis Watson said. “We should have made more routine plays in the earlier part of the game but, I think, when we kind of got smacked around earlier there, Polk showed some life and kind of woke us up. We realized we were in a dog fight.”
The host Wildcats handled Polk County (4-7; 2-4) and ace Kolton Casson 9-2 on April 1 before the following day’s weather delayed the return contest and added a layer to the process of returning to district play after last week’s visit to Gulf Shores, Alabama.
The visiting Wildcats were not short of making some noise. Offensively, Polk scored seven runs off seven hits. A two-out home run pushed them ahead in the top of the first.
Another two-RBI, two-out home run in the fifth inning returned Polk to the driver’s seat, now ahead 5-4. Polk County crushed a third home run one inning later, cutting Sweetwater’s advantage to 9-7.
“Hopefully we can learn from the day, at least the early part of the game. We have to be mentally ready to go and not play the other team, but play the game the right way,” Watson said. “We have to be ready to play every chance we get. A high school spring season is a blink of an eye. We do not want to take these games for granted.”
Sweetwater’s defense held in moments. Polk’s last-gasp attempt in the seventh inning was silenced by three ground outs on a combined four pitches from Jayden Richesin.
An error in the fourth inning allowed Polk to find another run, but Sweetwater turned a double play through Bryson Burgess and Blaine Watson that put out a fire.
“It is a learning process and baseball can certainly humble you just like life. That is what we should have gotten out of this: you have to come out to play and ready to grind out at-bats no matter who is on the mound,” Travis Watson added.
Brody Watson led the Sweetwater bats with three hits, followed by multi-hit days from Nolan Dacus, Cade Houser and Blaine Watson.
Blaine Watson rocketed a 3-2 pitch into center field in the fourth inning. With two outs and runners on the corner, Polk County’s Tanner Silvers was forced to throw to Blaine Watson.
The Sweetwater senior handled the moment with a liner that scored Caleb Powell and Kai Correll while putting Watson on third.
Brody Watson’s two-run home run in the seventh inning doubled Sweetwater’s then two-run lead, adding immense pressure to Polk’s final three outs.
Sweetwater’s offense showed to be off Spring Break, combining for 20 runs, 24 hits, 18 RBIs and batting collective .400 in the series.
Houser tallied five total RBIs followed by four from Blaine Watson and three from Tucker Lorenz. Brody Watson and Lucas Rockholt finished with two each.
Brody Watson delivered four extra-base hits in the series.
“At Polk, we had some really good at-bats. We grinded out some walks against a really good pitcher — a strike-throwing pitcher,” Travis Watson added. “Today, I think we might have been a little over-aggressive with their guy until about the fourth inning. We would like to come out of the gate being adjusted and understanding we can be a little patient with this guy.”
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