Doby makes Good on start

BY STEVE HANF
SALISBURY POST

In North Rowan’s 14-2 win over EastDavidson on Tuesday, theCavalier offense came from an unlikely source — Brandon Doby, a pitcher with all of eight at-bats this season.

When Goodman, the Cavs’ regular first baseman, was too sick to play in the 2ACentralCarolinaConference matchup, Doby took his place in the lineup. His home run plated the first of 13 runs in the bottom of the second inning. Asolo shot in the third finished off a 3-for-3 night with three runs scored and four RBIs.

Doby, a sophomore, certainly won’t be eligible to play in 2,130 straight games for the Cavs like a certain sub named Lou Gerhig did for the Yankees after replacing an ill Pipp. But the tall right-hander certainly turned some heads with his timely contributions.

“We knew he could hit and he’s done a good job pitching for us all year,”North head coach Bill Kesler said. “It was the first time he’s played in the field all season. Phillip Goodman was sick, otherwise Doby wouldn’t even have been playing.”

Doby’s two-run shot in the second inning came with one out and tied the game at 2-all. What followed was a nightmare for Dan Tricarico and his Golden Eagles, last season’s 2Astate champions.

Starter Matt Bryant gave up a double to Jimbo Davis and an RBI single to Nate Woodburn before getting Aaron Rimer to ground out to second for what should have been the third out of the inning. But an earlier infield error instead made it two away, and theCavs were just getting started.

Erik Mowery drove in North’s fourth run with a single and scored when Daniel Moore singled to left. Brad Canipe, the first to face reliever Bradley Baldwin, followed with a bases-clearing triple to the base of the center-field fence. Cass Jarrett, who made the first out of the inning, beat out an infield single, Tad Ogg walked and Doby knocked a single up the middle for anotherRBI. Davis and Woodburn walked, forcing in another run to make it 9-2.

Baldwin turned the ball over to Zach Hames, who gave up a two-run single to Rimer and another RBI knock to Moore to make it 13-2. In the inning, every Cavalier scored at least once. There were 10 hits, three walks and two errors.

“We could’ve kept hitting until midnight and all the way through breakfast,”Kesler said. “As a team we haven’t really busted loose in a game this year.

“When Doby hit that home run that picked the team up and got everybody going.”

Doby, who hit two homers in a game last season at North Stanly, came up in the third inning with two outs and the bases empty. His first long ball drifted over the fence with the help of a nice breeze. The second one needed no help.

“I didn’t think it was going,”Doby said of the first homer. “I hit that second one pretty good, though. I knew it was gone.”

Doby said one of the reasons for North’s outburst came after a sloppy first inning. With ace Moore on the mound, the Cavs figured to cruise. But an uncharacteristic three walks from the tall lefty, combined with two infield errors, gave the GoldenEagles a 2-0 lead.

“We just weren’t ready. We were cold or something,”Doby said. “We tried to make up for those errors from the first inning.”

With the offense’s mission accomplished in the 13-run second, Moore also bounced back from the mound. He retired the side in order in the top of the second, then gave up the only hit in the third on a slow roller up the middle by Kent Ridge. Sandwiched around the single were three Ks, though, and Moore added two more strikeouts in the fourth before fanning the side in the top of the fifth to finish with 11.

“People forget he’s human. Any pitcher can struggle with control for one inning,”Kesler said. “We made a couple of bad plays behind him, too. The good thing is that he came back and finished strong.”

Having a super sub in the lineup didn’t hurt, either.

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NOTES: Moore, who had three radar guns from scouts aimed at him throughout the game, also was 2-for-4 at the plate. … With the win, the Cavaliers’ only danger now is sleep-walking to the regular-season CCC crown. North now stands 14-4 overall and 10-0 in the league with its closest competition the Salisbury Hornets, three games back. TheGolden Eagles are now 7-11, 6-4. … East Davidson shortstop Neil Thompson, who reached on an error and scored in the first, will be playing middle infield at the College of Charleston next season.