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KANNAPOLIS — You won’t find “awesomest” in Mr. Webster’s dictionary, but when Kannapolis American Legion pitcher Bobby Helms described his team’s improbable upset over Eastern Randolph as the “awesomest feeling there is,” there wasn’t a soul at Veterans Field who didn’t know exactly what he was talking about.
Ninth-seeded Kannapolis stunned the top-seeded, defending Area III champions 6-5 on Friday night to win the quarterfinal playoff series three games to one. Stating that the outcome of this series was a surprise doesn’t do the last four days justice. It’s like saying King Kong was a rather large monkey or that Michael Jordan had pretty decent hang-time.
Every coach will tell you that the kids win ballgames. But Kannapolis coach Joe Hubbard deserves a ton of credit. Last night, Hubbard faced what may have been the toughest decision of his baseball career. Two unsung pitchers, Nick Cadolino and Drew Maher, and a fairly famous one named Helms made Hubbard look like a genius and earned him a semifinal series opposite No. 4 Mocksville. That series starts Tuesday at Rich Park.
Going in, Hubbard had no reason to believe this would be the decisive game. He didn’t come right out and say it, but he knew the odds were good his exhausted pitching staff was going to take its lumps Friday. He figured he’d regroup and try to pull out Saturday’s game behind Helms, who had pitched lights-out in Game 1 and would be rested enough to start again in Game 5.
But a 15-year-old jayvee named Jonathan Goodman, usually the team’s shortstop, changed everyone’s travel plans. Someone forgot to tell Goodman he didn’t have a prayer. When Hubbard sent him to the mound, he pitched his heart out. Goodman gave up two ringing doubles in the second and shook it off. He gave up a 400-foot homer to Mickey Burgess in the third. He shook that off, too.
When Hubbard gazed up at the scoreboard after five innings, Kannapolis, which had been out-hit 9-3 and out-line-drived roughly 14-1, trailed just 3-2 where it counted. It was still close for two reasons. First, Goodman had stranded seven Eastern runners. Second, Kannapolis had gotten two runs thanks to a looping fly ball off the bat of Matt Harris that eluded leftfielder Matt Clapp when he tried for a shoe-string catch. It went as a booming triple in the boxscore.
Goodman made it all the way to the seventh. It was 3-3 with two on and one out when Hubbard lifted the kid to an ovation. Then it was decision time. Hubbard stared out at shortstop where Helms was stationed. Helms gave him the look. Hubbard resisted the temptation and put his fate in the hands of his uncertain bullpen.
Cadolino came through. He got Hubbard out of the seventh, allowing one run on a sac fly.
Then Kannapolis rallied in the bottom of the inning, overcoming a controversial interference call. Harris’ chopper plated Steve Swann, the No. 9 hitter who scored three runs, to make it 4-4. Helms banged a two-out single to put his team in front 5-4.
When Ross Houston doubled off Cadolino to start the Eastern eighth, Helms pleaded for the ball again. Hubbard considered his request, but instead called on Maher. Maher couldn’t stop Houston from scoring to tie the game, but fought through the inning when Andrew Connor’s two-out, bases-loaded liner attacked rightfielder Dusty Carmichael’s glove like a heat-seeking missile.
Kannapolis’ winning “rally” in its half of the eighth epitomized what this series was about.
“It’s an inning that happened because a kid (Swann) hustled down the line,” said Hubbard.
With two outs and nobody on, Swann struck out swinging. But the ball glanced off catcher John Verdinek’s glove and Swann beat the throw to first by a step. A wild pitch moved him to second. Then Chris Florence lofted a soft fly that fell just beyond the outstretched glove of third baseman Derek Saunders as Swann charged around the bases.
“I was jumping up and down so much, I was afraid I’d miss third,” said Swann.
But somehow Swann did touch third. And home. And Kannapolis led 6-5.
“Sometimes,” offered Hubbard, “if you play hard enough, things fall in.”
The ninth began with a low buzz that became a mighty roar as one by one the crowd realized that Hubbard had at last handed the ball to No. 10. This was it. Hubbard was going after the series and would let tomorrow take care of itself. If he lost, he’d do it with Helms, his best player. It was, as the song says, “Right here, right now.”
“Bobby kept asking for it. He wanted it in his hands,” whispered an emotional Hubbard. “We (Hubbard and assistants Empsy Thompson and Travis Little) started talking about going to Bobby in the seventh. The hard part was deciding to put all our eggs in one basket. We’re thinking: ‘Oh gosh, if this doesn’t work out, what happens tomorrow night.’”
Helms made it exciting. He hit the leadoff man. A passed ball and a sacrifice pushed the runner to third with one out. Extra innings, Hubbard’s worst nightmare, loomed.
“All we could do in the dugout was yell, ‘Come on Bobby!’” sighed Hubbard.
Eastern needed only a fly ball to tie. It couldn’t get it. Helms blew away Houston and Price Stevens on blazing fastballs and it was game, set and match to Kannapolis.
“I just love that kind of stuff,” said Helms. “That was the ultimate. There really just aren’t no words.”
Sure there are. It was the awesomest.
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