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Power hitting isn’t supposed to be one of its strengths, but two early home runs helped Rowan County open its American Legion baseball season with a 4-3 victory over Kannapolis at Newman Park on Wednesday night.
Brett Peiffer and NickLefko unloaded back-to-back homers in the second inning as coach Jim DeHart’s club got off to a winning start in the new West Division Southern District race.
Kannapolis is 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Rowan trailed 2-0 before Peiffer’s shot to left field tied the score. Lefko followed him with the first homer of his high school or Legion career over the center field fence.
“The ball carries here very well,” said Peiffer, who went 2-for-4. “Once you hit the ball hard, it’s going to go. When you get it up in the air, it’s going to go out of here. You really don’t have to have power hitters per se. If you make good contact, it’ll go in this park.”
It was Peiffer’ sixth home run in three Legion seasons.
“I haven’t really been a power hitter at all,” he said. “I don’t know if I would want to be a power hitter. If you’re a power hitter, it always seems like your average goes down. If you just come out and try to hit the ball hard every time, not really try to lift it, not try to hit it out of the park, then you’re going to get your base hits and the home runs will come.”
Peiffer didn’t think his two-run homer was out of the park.
“He (Kannapolis pitcher Bobby Helms) threw me a changeup low. It was a real good pitch on an 0-2 count. I just had to go down and get it and fortunately it had enough to carry out,” said Peiffer.
Peiffer didn’t see his East Rowan High School and Legion teammate Lefko hit his home run that made it 3-2.
“I was still getting Gatorade in the dugout. The next thing I know everybody’s yelling, ‘Lefko hit a home run.’”
Lefko was the only player in the game with more than two hits, going 3-for-4. He singled in the fourth inning, doubled in the sixth then had a chance to hit for the cycle in the eighth. He flied to right.
BenHampton went 2-for-3 in his Legion debut, but the West Rowan product had to leave the game in the sixth inning after fouling a pitch off his foot in the fifth. One of his hits was a double.
Left-hander Julian Sides and right-hander BrianHatley teamed up on the mound to limit Kannapolis to six hits. Sides worked the first 5 1/3 innings, yielding five hits and three runs, one unearned. Hatley got the victory by pitching one-hit ball over the final 3 2/3 innings.
Coach DeHart was pleased with the hitting, pitching and defense.
“I thought we did a lot of good things,” said the Rowan coach. “Good gosh, Lefko had a heck of a night, and Peiffer had a good night. I thought it (back-to-back homers) kind of unsettled Bobby (Helms) a little bit, as good a pitcher as he is.
“Lefko had three hits tonight. You have to leave a guy in the lineup that does that. He played outstanding defense.He made two catches out there (right field) I really enjoyed watching. ... I thought (Bobby) Parnell did an excellent job at third.”
Parnell, an East jayvee during the high school season, had three balls hit to him at third and had two assists and putouts at first. He also dived for a ball hit by Kannapolis’ Zach Gurley on a play that was ruled a hit.
As for the pitching, DeHart said, “I thought Julian did a great job. He had them off-stride. He didn’t pitch that much this year (42 2/3 innings at East Rowan while going 6-0), and it’s going to take him two or three times out to get his location. His location tonight wasn’t very good. Normally, he can put the ball inside a square. ... Brian was just his normal self.I might use him as a closer, he’s so good at it. He loves that role.”
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NOTES: Rowan will be back in action against a new league foe, Boone, at Watauga High School at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. DeHart plans to start left-hander Spencer Steedley, another East jayvee, on the mound. ...Hatley and Parnell had stolen bases for Rowan. ... The game was delayed twice in the second and third innings while DeHart, Kannapolis assistant coach Empsy Thompson and umpires Brandon Whitaker and Gerald Trexler discussed Kannapolis players batting out of order. The visitors turned in a lineup that had Helms batting fifth, but he batted ninth the first time around. ... Gurley went 3-for-4 for Kannapolis, while Dusty Carmichael drove in two runs with a first-inning double when he batted in Helms’ spot in the order. ... Kannapolis will be host Mocksville-Davie at Memorial Stadium at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
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