The tie-breaking formula to determine seeds for the upcoming American Legion playoffs was revealed Friday.

It was not particularly good news for Rowan County.

Teams finishing in seventh- to 10th-place in both divisions of Area III will play best two-of-three series starting June 21.

Then the real fun starts on June 26 with the second tier of playoffs. The 16 teams left after the first round (eight from the East, eight from the West) will then be thrown in one pile and seeded by record.

If there are ties — and there no doubt will be — the first tiebreaker is head-to-head.

The second tiebreaker, however, is runs, which is going to cause some consternation.

Here’s how that second tiebreaker works. Say Rowan and Concord tie with 16-4 records, which is very likely.

Concord and Rowan split. Concord beat Rowan 8-2 (by six runs), while Rowan beat Concord 6-1 (by five runs). On that basis, Concord would have the edge on Rowan by one run and would be awarded a higher seed.

If runs are even, teams go to a third tiebreaker — the good, old-fashioned coin flip.

Defense and more defense: In last week’s blowout against Wilkes County, Rowan batted around in the third inning.

Third baseman Brian Hatley made the first and last outs of the six-run frame, which mattered not a bit to head coach Jim DeHart.

“He’s one of the kids that separates his offensive and defensive games,” DeHart said. “He’s done that ever since I’ve known him in Little League, and it makes him an outstanding player.”

Hatley came up with one or two gems in that 12-2 win and has benefitted from the defense countless times while on the mound.

Rowan pitchers have surrendered just 29 unearned runs in 23 games. DeHart said the defense is particularly on its toes because many of Rowan’s pitchers work so quickly.

“The defense played one heck of a ballgame,” DeHart said after Spencer Steedley improved to 5-0 against Wilkes. “They always play well when he’s pitching because he works quickly and he throws strikes.”

MOMENT OF GLORY: Ben Hampton took over sole possession of the team homer lead for Rowan when he hit his fifth, a liner to right, in the third inning of Rowan’s 21-0 Friday night romp over Kannapolis.

But Hampton was the undisputed team leader for only a few seconds. Brett Peiffer, the next batter, promptly clubbed his fifth over the left-field scoreboard.

STRANGE NIGHT: Unusual things happened in that pounding of Kannapolis.

Leadoff batter Hayes had five RBIs with just one hit. No. 3 batter Brian Hatley had four hits but no RBIs.

NOTHING LIKE IT: Kannapolis pitching coach Travis Little said Daniel Moore’s one-hit effort against his team was the most devastating pitching performance he’s witnessed.

“I saw Hut Smith and Andy Smith throw down here (two A.L. Brown hurlers who were drafted by the majors), but until tonight I’ve never seen anybody go right through a lineup throwing nothing but fastballs,” he said. “The movement on Moore’s pitches must be unbelievable. Plus, he’ll throw it inside. Most kids don’t realize just how important that is.”

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BRAD DOES CANIPE-OLIS: Rowan catcher Brad Canipe showed on Friday that he’s completely recovered from his slump.

He didn’t hit two homers like he did Wednesday against South Rowan, but he had three more hits to push his average over .260. And he didn’t give any at-bats away.

Even on his lost two at-bats,with Rowan up by a huge margin, Canipe was patient. He accepted a walk in the sixth with Rowan ahead by 18 runs.

Canipe’s been getting a daily workout behind the plate lately, because Rowan’s other primary catcher Drew Davis will be out until the playoffs with a dislocated hip.

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HEAD START: Brian Hatley didn’t blame South pitcher John Brooks when Brooks nailed him with a pitch in the head when Rowan beat South 13-9 on Wednesday.

“I was looking for something outside and then the ball just rode in on me,” said Hatley, who stayed down for several scary minutes.

Hatley had a headache after that game and still has a big lump on his forehead, but he’s playing as well as ever. He was 4-for-5 on Friday.

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BUSTING LOOSE: Shortstop Hayes ended his power outage with two doubles against South, then a grand slam against Kannapolis.

He leads Rowan in average (.360), runs (32) and is tied for the lead in hits (32).

And, of course, he leads Rowan in spectacular defensive plays.

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SAY WHAT? Hatley contributed a Yogi Berraism to the season recently when he was talking about Rowan’s team speed.

“We’ve got a lot of speed,” he said. “Yeah, even our slow guys are fast.”

Huh?

We know what Hatley was talking about though, and he’s been running the bases as well as anyone. He had two steals Friday, giving him 17 for the season.

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BAD MOVE: Coach Allen Wilson agonized over whom to start against Rowan on Wednesday. His choices were lefty Chris Morris, who did well against Rowan the first time around, or right-hander Jonathan Brooks.

He opted for Morris and the results weren’t good. Morris didn’t last the first inning and Rowan jumped ahead 6-0 and never looked back.

Then Brooks came in and pitched well to create some fodder for arm-chair managers.

Wilson said the main reason he went with Morris was because he matched up better with Rowan’s leading RBI man, Hampton, a lefty hitter.

That part of Wilson’s strategy worked. Hampton was 0-for-3, although he did walk three times.

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IT WORKED: Wilson looked like a genius in Wednesday’s South-Rowan game when he intentionally walked Hayes to load the bases. The next hitter, Nate Woodburn, cooperated by rapping into a 1-2-3 double play.

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PICKING IT UP: South catcher Jeremy Alderman is playing much better after a slow start.

It took Alderman a long time just to get his first hit of the summer, but after that he was on fire. He had two hits against Concord, three runs and two hits against Kannapolis, then had two hits and two RBIs against Rowan.

“He’s worked as hard as anyone,” said Wilson. “It’s good to see it paying off.”

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SORE SHORE: Wilson’s lineup flexibility has been hurt by Ronnie Shore’s sore throwing arm, which has limited him to DH duties.

Shore, a terrific line-drive hitter has to be in the lineup, but it’s cut down on at-bats for people like Brian Yon, Ryan Schenk and Matt Morgan, who might’ve gotten some swings if Shore was able to play short or second base.

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WOW! You can’t make a better catch than the back-to-the-plate leaping grab that South shortstop Jared Barnette made to rob Rowan’s Hatley in the first inning on Wednesday.

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FRIENDS TO THE END: Rowan’s Peiffer and South’s Drew Lyerly were teammates at East Rowan during the high school season, but have faced each other three times in crucial situations in Legion ball.

Lyerly won the first two matchups. He fanned Peiffer when South beat Rowan this year and again on Wednesday with the bases loaded.

But Peiffer got the last laugh, belting a homer off Lyerly the third time around.

“He just made a mistake,” said Peiffer. “But Drew’s a good pitcher.

Peiffer engaged in a long conversation with both Alderman and Lyerly after Rowan’s win over South.

“We’re still friends,” Peiffer said. “Always.”

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RUN FOR IT: When Mocksville beat Stanly 22-15 recently, it marked the most runs scored in a Mocksville game since 1993 when Lexington and Mocksville combined for another 37.

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CALL HIM THE STREAK: Mocksville’s Zach Greene has hit safely in every game this season, but lately he’s been cutting it close.