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The American Legion baseball notebook ...
The 2000 season format is different, but Rowan County is assured of playing for the state championship for the 10th time.
Coach Jim DeHart’s Rowan club, by virtue of an Area III semifinal three-games-to-one victory over Concord, has clinched a berth in the first North Carolina state tourney to be held July 28-Aug. 2 in Lenoir.
Nine teams, including host Caldwell County, will be in the double-elimination field. Area III will be represented by both Rowan and Kannapolis, which upset Mocksville-Davie in five games Saturday night. Two teams each from Areas I, II and IV will also be in the field.
Cherryville, the 1997 and 1998 champion, is still alive in the Area IV playoffs. Garner, the defending state champ, is still playing in Area II, but trails Louisburg two games to one.
The Rowan County (formerly Salisbury) program has captured five state championships and finished second four times.
Coach Joe Ferebee’s 1955 Salisbury club brought home the first state crown by defeating Wilmington in six games. That club, led by star pitcher Tommy Eaton, went on to finish third in the nation in St. Paul, Minn.
Rowan was in the state finals four straight years under Ferebee from 1968 through 1971, winning twice.
Greensboro Burtner took the 1968 title, downing Rowan in five games.
Rowan bounced back to defeat Wilmington in five games for the 1969 crown, clinching it on a thrilling home run by Randy Benson in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Wilmington got revenge in 1970, going six games to defeat Rowan.
It was Rowan’s turn again in 1971, when Wilmington was beaten in five games.
Eight years later, 1979, future major leaguer Franklin Stubbs was the winning pitcher in all four of his team’s victories as Hamlet down Rowan in seven games.
Wilmington and Rowan met for the fifth time in the 1980 finals, which saw Wilmington win in five games. Wilmington’s winning run on a controversial play in Game 5 led to a near riot at Wilmington’s Legion Stadium.
Rowan’s powerful 1984 team swept Hope Mills in four straight games to capture the program’s fourth state title, all under Ferebee.
DeHart, who took over after in 1990 following Ferebee’s retirement, coached Rowan to the 1993 state championship. Rowan swept Scotland County in four games for the program’s fifth title.
DeHart’s great 1996 club didn’t win the state title, but captured an even bigger honor, winning the Southeastern Regional at NewmanPark as the host team. That team went on to finish fourth in the nation in Oregon. Rowan officials claim third place, but three teams were still playing when Rowan flew out of Oregon.
Now DeHart, in his final season as Rowan’s coach, has a chance to win the first state tournament ever held at one site.
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FINALS: Rowan (25-10) and Kannapolis (21-13) will start the best-of-five Area III championship series at Newman Park on Tuesday night, but it’s not a sudden-death situation. Both teams have already clinched berths in the state tournament.
Kannapolis finished fourth in the regular season, while Rowan tied Mocksville for second. Rowan edged Kannapolis 4-3 in the season opener, then rolled past coach Joe Hubbard’s team 21-0 in the second meeting.
Kannapolis, after its strong showing against Mocksville, would like nothing better than to upset Rowan, too.
Rowan and Kannapolis will be meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 1990, when Rowan won three games to one in the first round.
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LONG DROUGHT: You have to go all the way back to the 1983 season to find the last time Concord defeated Rowan County in the playoffs.
That was the year Rowan finished first in the regular season at 13-5. Mocksville was second at 12-6, followed by Concord and Statesville, each 11-7.
Only four teams qualified for the Southern Division playoffs that year, and Rowan and Concord advanced to the finals.
Concord won a thrilling seven-game series over Rowan for the divisional crown, then topped Eastern Randolph in six games for the Area III titles.
Charlotte Independence eliminated Concord four games to one in the Western North Carolina finals.
Since then Rowan has eliminated Concord in the 1985 finals 4-3; 1993 semifinals 3-0; 1994 finals 4-3; 1996 semifinals 4-0; 1997 finals 4-0; 1998 finals 4-0; 1999 finals 4-1; and 2000 finals 3-1 — a 30-8 record for Rowan against the guys from Webb Field.
It’s no wonder Concord fans get so excited over every close play or questionable umpire’s call.
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