GRANITEFALLS— Rowan County and AmericanLegion officials proved there is such a thing as too much baseball.

First came a highly successful high school season for most of Rowan’s players, which left them scrambling to make the start of the Legion season. A long run in the Legion playoffs extended their baseball days even more.

And to top it all off, one measly loss in the state tournament put Rowan in an unenviable situation — win five games in three days, four in the last 24 hours, to claim the state tournament.

It didn’t happen. A fresh Caldwell County team that took three straight games to make the championship series won 7-3 on Wednesday to advance to the southeastern regional.

“We played three games in less than 24 hours and everybody’s pretty much worn out,” Rowan left fielder Ben Hampton said.

The mental and physical toll showed signs of creeping in early in the state tournament. Rowan committed three errors that helped North Raleigh make things interesting before winning 10-8 in the opener. Four errors against Wilmington led to three unearned runs inRowan’s 5-4 victory.

Rowan unraveled on the defensive front in both of its losses. Cherryville tagged Brian Hatley for three unearned runs in its 8-6 win Sunday. On Wednesday, Jim DeHart’s team led 3-2 entering the sixth before three straight misplays brought home three runs.

“We argued with each other too much and didn’t pull together as a team enough, because the errors were more mental,”Hampton said. “If they had been more physical, then everybody would have just patted each other on the butt and said, ‘Get ’em next time.’

“But they were more mental and it took a toll on us.”

DeHart noticed a marked difference at the plate, as well. Caldwell County starter Marc Church, the team’s ace, didn’t have great stuff in the early innings. But it didn’t matter.

“The long high school season, they come straight in here, then we’ve been here four nights. It’s bound to make them tired mentally and physically,”DeHart said. “Most of this today was physical. They weren’t running as fast, the bats were real slow today.

“Church made them that way, but you could see when they were tying to swing they didn’t have the bat speed they had. If they had, some of those balls we hit would’ve been sitting out in those trees,” said DeHart, gesturing beyond the left-field fence. “He gave us plenty of pitches to hit. I’m not saying he wouldn’t beat us, but I’d like to see him on another day.”

When Church recorded the final out, he ended Rowan’s season at 32-13.

How’s this for an eye-opening look at just how much baseball these players have seen this year:

North Rowan’s Legion contingent of Daniel Moore, Brandon Doby, Brad Canipe, Nate Woodburn, ErikMowery,Tad Ogg and Philip Goodman went 23-7 as they made the Class 2A state championship series.

That’s 75 games over the last six months. By comparison, the Batavia Muckdogs, Rookie League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, play 73 games over their seven-month schedule.

“It’s just nonstop, and now some people are going straight into football,”said Hampton, one of six who fall into that category.“I think I’m ready to go start football. I’m going to see if (coach Scott Young) will give me a little break to go to the beach.

“That’d be nice. I haven’t had a vacation yet.”

can cal? Cal Hayes Jr. can’t even go right to football yet. He headed for Wilmington this morning to take part in the East Coast Baseball Showcase.

The East Rowan shortstop is in a class by himself — rising juniors are rarely invited to the event, which is loaded with college coaches and pro scouts looking for the region’s top seniors.

But Hayes had a lot of trouble getting excited about playing more baseball. When asked if he was excited about going, he offered only a weary, “Not really.”

Good news for first-year East football coach Tommy Eanes, though. Hayes’ outlook brightened considerably when asked if he was ready to hit the football field instead.

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Top dogs: Rowan might have finished second, but two of the three MVPcandidates came from its roster.

Discussion over Hayes, Hatley and Caldwell’s Church dominated the voting, done by the four Area commissioners. Hayes, with two years of Legion eligibility remaining, didn’t stand a chance. Instead, MVPhonors came down to Church and Hatley, and the commissioners elected to honor both players.

“Right now it doesn’t matter a whole lot,” said Hatley, who collected 11 hits, 11 RBIs and seven runs scored in the six games. ”I didn’t care about any individual awards at all, Ijust wanted to win this tournament.”

Despite Hatley’s disappointment, DeHart was happy his star player was honored.

“It’s a great way for him to go out,”DeHart said. “I think he deserved it.”

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smooth shave: Hatley, one of Rowan’s captains, pulled the team together one last time: He suggested a little team unity via the old shaved-head approach.

So on Wednesday, several clean domes glistened in the sun for the national anthem.

“We were sitting in our rooms about 1 o’clock the other morning and Hatley called us up and said, ‘I’m gonna shave my head,’” Hampton said. “So yesterday, me and Dan (Moore) told him if we won both the games we’d shave ours, too.”

Drew Davis and Julian Sides were among the others who went temporarily bald.

Hampton was glad he did — his tournament slump ended with a 2-for-3 performance when he traded in his bleached-blonde locks for none at all.

“It worked,”said the grinning Hampton. “Everybody had been telling me that the blonde hair was what was giving me all the trouble.”

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Steve Hanf covered AmericanLegion baseball for the Post.