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MOORESVILLE — Brian Hatley pawed the dirt nervously at his third base position as Rowan Legion coach Jim DeHart sprang from the dugout for a few words with pitcher Daniel Moore, who had just walked the first two batters in the last of the ninth.
“I figured Coach was just coming out to settle Daniel down,” said Hatley.
Rowan led by three runs and figured to be home free with its ace lefty on the mound, but suddenly DeHart was patting Moore on the back, Moore was handing DeHart the ball and DeHart was pointing at Hatley.
“Surprised?” said Hatley. “Yeah, a little. But I’d told Coach I could go an inning if I was needed.”
He was needed. Hatley got the last three nerve-wracking outs as Rowan held on to beat Mooresville 4-3 to break its two-game losing streak. Rowan improved to 11-4 in league play, while Mooresville, without question the league’s hard-luck team, fell to 6-10.
“We played a real good ballgame,” said Mooresville coach Whitey Meadows, who’s guided his club’s fortunes since 1972. “We needed one more hit. But that’s sort of the way it’s been all year.”
It was a strange game — one that Rowan might have won by five runs with average luck. But Meadows always has his team ready for Rowan and his guys kept making amazing plays and figuring out ways to hang around.
West Rowan High’s Josh Overcash started for the Moors. Meadows asked him to get to the sixth, and the right-hander, dueling old friends like Hatley and Ben Hampton, delivered.
Rowan scored a run in the third on Hatley’s RBI single. Brad Canipe’s double off the fence in right, which missed going out of the park by a foot, keyed a two-run fourth. Cal Hayes Jr. and Nate Woodburn got the runs home with two-out singles.
Rowan, which stranded 12, should have gotten lots, lots more. It whacked line drives all over Iredell County all night. Brett Peiffer’s hair should have turned gray by the ninth. He hit two drives to the fence for outs and two more vicious liners that were caught. Peiffer’s lone hit came the one time he didn’t hit the ball hard.
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Hatley ripped a shot toward center field that looked destined to break the game open and give Moore some breathing room. But shortstop Jonathan Seaford was standing a foot from second base. He flagged the ball down and doubled Aaron Rimer off first to end the inning.
“Whitey always positions his guys perfectly against us,” said DeHart, uncertain whether to laugh or cry.
Meanwhile, Moore was giving Mooresville’s bats his usual silent treatment. As he often does, he started sluggishly, but he was a young man possessed after DeHart visited him in the third inning.
“He told me to stop trying for corners, to let it go and get after the hitters,” explained Moore.
Moore hadn’t struck out anyone and had given up an early run on an RBI double by Meadows’ 15-year-old grandson, Josh Haire, but after the pow-wow he fanned four of the next five batters and went on to strike out 12.
It remained 3-1 until the ninth.
Rowan got its fourth run in the top of the inning when Drew Davis poked a hit to right to score Woodburn, who had led off with a double.
“Woody and Canipe broke out,” said DeHart. “That’s great, because we really need hitting from those two.”
Last night DeHart got it. Both Woodburn and Canipe are tired of hearing about their slow Legion starts and played like it.
“Coach confronted us before the game. He told us it was time to relax and play the game for fun and get it done,” said Woodburn. “Brad and I have been pressing, but tonight, we promised each other two hits apiece. I used Brad’s bat and got my two. Brad only had one, but it was a monster (the double in the fourth), so it counted for two.”
Rowan nearly added another run in the ninth, but a strong throw from leftfielder Brian Brauss nailed Davis at the plate when he tried to score on Nick Lefko’s single.
Then it was Mooresville’s turn. Moore walked Jeremy Sherrill and Michael Sandlin, bringing DeHart to the mound with a reluctant hook.
“Daniel’s pitch count was getting up and we’re certainly not going to take a chance on his future,” said DeHart.
Moore, as badly as he wanted to stay in, gently handed the ball to DeHart, nodded at Hatley and headed to the dugout to stunned applause.
“If you’ve gotta turn it over to someone, there’s no one better than Brian,” said Moore.
But it wasn’t easy. Brauss, a lefty hitter who had to be thrilled to see Moore leave the game, reached on an error and the bases were loaded. Then Haire skied deep to left to plate a run. Justin Graham’s sac fly to right made it 4-3. Aggressive all the way, Meadows had Brauss steal second with two outs. He slid in under Canipe’s throw and now the Moors were a base hit from a tie.
But Hatley glared, grunted, fired and struck out leadoff man Seaford looking.
“Seaford’s a real good player, but Hatley just froze him,” sighed Meadows.
“We lost a couple of games, but that doesn’t mean we’re hanging our heads,” said Hatley. “We’re still a good team.”
“Maybe, we’re not quite where I’d like us to be,” added DeHart. “But this one sure gets some momentum back.”
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NOTES: Meadows said Haire’s double off Moore was a thrill for him and his grandson. ... DeHart indicated that Spencer Steedley (4-0) will get the starting nod tonight at Newman against a hard-hitting Wilkes team. ... Hayes reached base four times, including another hit by pitch ... Jared Brewster had a triple for the Moors. ... Mooresville pitcher Jeremy Johnson signed with the Detroit Tigers and is now in Florida.
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