Baseball Recap: Polk County Comes Up Short

Polk County had lost 11 straight on the road dating back to last season, but on Monday they dropped down to 3-8 to make it 12. They came up short against the McMinn Central Chargers, falling 10-0. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Wildcats of the 7-1 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in April of 2025.

Polk County saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kamren Minnaert, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two stolen bases. Those stolen bases marked the first that Minnaert has snagged this season.

As for McMinn Central, their win bumped their record up to 10-8. Considering they have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

On McMinn Central's side, Evan Preston tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave Preston a new career-high.

On the hitting side, Corbyn Frisbie and Hunter Rayburn did most of the damage at the plate: Frisbie got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI, while Rayburn went a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. Frisbie is becoming a predictor of McMinn Central's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 4-8 when he doesn't). Jesse Holden was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one triple.

While Polk County had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.