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Rowan County baseball players don’t hit a lot of home runs, but the local AmericanLegion team seems to hit them at opportune times.
It was Nick Lefko who came through last night at NewmanPark, breaking a 3-all tie with a leadoff homer in the sixth inning and sending Rowan on its way to a 7-4 league victory over Stanly County.
Lefko hit his second homer and the team’s 11th over the 345-foot mark in left-center field.
“We were tied 3-3. They had just tied it up (with two runs in the top of the sixth),” said Rowan coach Jim DeHart. “That leadoff home run was very big for us. It seemed like it was the shot in the arm that we needed.”
Lefko, like most of his teammates, is a singles and doubles hitter who still has some power.
“Most of the power hitters who hit home runs have a lot of strikeouts,” said the outfielder from East Rowan High School. “I’d rather take two doubles a game than a home run.”
Lefko has never hit a high school home run. He hit his first career Legion homer in the season-opening 4-3 victory over Kannapolis. That was when Brett Peiffer and Lefko homered back to back.
“It’s like Brett said, we can be power-hitters at times, but we’d rather not be,” pointed out Lefko. “I think everybody on this team can just about hit a home run on a given day. (Ben) Hampton: He’s got some power. He’s our main power-hitter.”
Hampton, a first-year player, leads Rowan with three homers.
“Lefko has been hitting the ball real well (.328 average),” said DeHart. “He’s been hitting solid, not long, but he’s getting some key hits. His ball takes off sometimes. He’s probably the most improved player we have from last year. He started hitting like that in high school. You have to give (Jeff) Safrit credit for that. He really brought him around. He’s just continued it here.”
Lefko had an infield single in the second inning and went 2-for-3 for the night.
Lefko said, when he went to the plate in the sixth with the score tied, “Coach (Jason) Kluttz told me to take my time and get on. I got on and got off. It was a fastball down the middle.”
Rowan’s victory was the team’s third straight, improving the club’s record to 10-2 in the league and 11-5 overall.
“The win against Concord was a big pick-up,” said Lefko, referring to Rowan’s 6-1 victory over first-place Concord on Tuesday.
“That’s three straight wins at home, and we’re looking for another one tomorrow.”
Rowan hosts Mocksville-Davie at 7:15 p.m. today in another league game.
Right-hander Brian Hatley battled his way for a complete game 13-hitter, improving his record to 4-0.
“I didn’t have my best stuff tonight,” said Hatley. “Everything I threw didn’t get to the right spot. The defense really helped me out a whole lot. If it wouldn’t have been for the defense, I wouldn’t have made it five innings.”
Rowan had two double plays from second baseman Erik Mowery to shortstop Cal Hayes Jr. to first baseman Hampton. Hayes had seven assists, one on a great inning-ending play in the sixth, and three putouts.
Chad Elium (4-for-5) and Chad Yow (3-for-4) led Stanly County at the plate. Elium came to bat in the top of the ninth inning representing the tying run with runners at first and third. Hatley got him on a called third strike.
“They’ve got a great hitting team,” said DeHart of Stanly County (5-7 league, 5-8 overall). “Elium played at Pfeiffer this past year. We were lucky with the tying run at the plate with him at-bat. We were lucky to get out of it.”
Hatley’s biggest problem, other than the Stanly hitters, was a bug or gnat in the seventh inning.
“I swallowed a bug. Some kind of little gnat or something flew in there,” said Hatley, who was able to pitch after getting a cup of water. “At first, I thought I had it down and everything. It kept flying back up there,I guess.I kept choking on it.”
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NOTES: Drew Davis (2-for-2), Hayes (2-for-4) and Hatley (2-for-5) joined Lefko in leading Rowan’s 10-hit attack. ... Tad Ogg, who drove in Rowan’s first two runs with a single, was the only player with two runs batted in for either team. ... Hayes stole his 13th base, putting him one ahead of Hatley for the team lead. ... Rowan hits the road after tonight’s home game, visiting Concord on Saturday in a big game and Mooresville on Sunday.
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