Rowan recovers with 9-4 Legion victory

BY ED DUPREE
FOR THE SALISBURY POST

Moore, the ace left-hander for
Rowan County’s AmericanLegion baseball team, shook off control problems and a grand slam home run to beat Concord 9-4 in a game that was cut short to six innings by a rainstorm.

Rowan led 14-7 with Concord batting in the bottom of the seventh when the game was stopped, so the official score reverted back to the last completed inning.

Rowan thus holds a 1-0 lead in a best-of-five Area III semifinal series that will determine one of the berths in the state tournament in Lenoir July 28-Aug. 2. Game 2 is at Newman Park at 7:15 p.m. today.

Concord went ahead 4-3 at Webb Field when Robert Scott belted a long bases-loaded home run to left field in the bottom of the third inning.

“When he gave up that grand slam, I thought the whole team responded for him,” said Rowan coach Jim DeHart, whose team improved to 23-9. “That’s pretty devastating to give up a grand slam like that. They (Rowan) came back and scored in the top of the next winning when (Shawn) Trosper came through with that hit.”

Trosper, in the lineup mainly for his defense at first base, was batting ninth in the order, but his single up the middle in the top of the fourth drove in two runs and put Rowan ahead to stay at 5-4. He got another run batted in with a single to left in the sixth.

“He hits line drives most of the time; he’ll fool you,” said DeHart of Trosper. “He’s not easy to strike out. It’s unusual for him to strike out like that first at-bat. He puts the ball in play.”

Another big hitter for Rowan last night was Ben Hampton, hitting in the No. 8 slot. He hammered his team-leading sixth homer to left-center with two teammates on base in the second inning to get Rowan out front early at 3-0.

“The home run to left-center field by Hampton was a great thing for us. It only gave us three runs, but him going to left-center was the thing,” said DeHart of the left-handed power hitter. Hampton’s homer was his first since June 16. Hampton, who had been in a 2-for-21 slump, was 2-for-3 last night.

“He’s starting to hit the ball again, and that’s a good sign for this team. We need his bat in the lineup,” said DeHart.

Moore, now 6-1, had a 1.31 earned run average entering the game, but gave up the most earned runs (four) he’s given up all year.

“He looked just like he did against South Rowan (11-4 loss early in the season),” said DeHart. Moore yielded nine runs, three earned, in his first Legion appearance on May 31. “Daniel hasn’t pitched enough this year. It’s been 10 days just about between each start. You can’t stay sharp like that. I think the next time when he comes back in this series, you’ll see a different pitcher.”

Moore walked only three batters and struck out 10, but he threw a lot of high pitches in the first three innings and again in the seventh, when a three-run homer by Matt Baker was erased by the rain.

“His control was not there. His release point was terrible at the first of the game. Everything was high. That comes from not pitching.It’s hard to find your mechanics,” exclaimed DeHart.

Coach Bryan Tyson of Concord knew Rowan had a pitching edge coming into the series, because his staff, especially ace left-hander Thomas Wilson, was overworked in a five-game second-round series with Watauga County.

“We spent about everything we had to get to this series,” said Tyson, whose team trailed Watauga two games to one before rallying for two straight victories.

“We knew going into Game 1 against Moore that it was going to be tough on our pitching staff. We were hoping this rain would be here at 7 o’clock instead of 10 to give us a day of rest,” said Tyson. “I’m looking at probably not even being able to pitch our ace until Game 3. We’re hurting pitching-wise, but we can do better than we did tonight on the mound.”

Scott started for Concord but threw 125 pitches before being relieved by Chris Hartsell with no outs in the sixth inning. All eight runs allowed by Scott were earned.

Wilson won Game 4 of the Watauga series on Saturday with a complete-game two-hitter, then saved Game 5 with 123 innings of shutout ball on Sunday night. Tyson said the southpaw could possibly go tonight against Rowan right-hander Brian Hatley (7-0), but that right-hander Jamie Tucker would probably be the starter.

“I feel like we can hit with anybody: It’s just a matter of if we can control their bats,” said Tyson.

“I’m always concerned about their bats,” said DeHart. “We just can’t let those guys keep hitting the long ball. They do hit the ball hard. We’ve just got to keep the ball away from them when we’re at their park. Three hundred and 13 feet (to left field) is not very deep.”

As for taking the series lead, DeHart added, “I think, in a three-out-of-five series, it’s so important to get that first one. ... They’ve got to win two to get ahead of us. That’s pretty important.”

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NOTES: Brad Canipe went 2-for-2 for Rowan. ... Hatley’s three-run homer in the seventh inning was erased by rain.It would have been his second in three games. ... No player had two hits for Concord, but Scott would have gone 2-for-4 had his seventh-inning double counted. The rain also cost Pat Newsome a second hit.