Gurley, a former Northwest Cabarrus High School star who just finished his freshman year at Montreat College, had the rare combination of a home run, a triple, a double and a single during his 4-for-5 night with three runs scored and two batted in.

Gurley came to the plate as the leadoff batter in the top of the ninth inning needing the triple for the cycle. His team already held a 6-3 lead.

“I saw it go past the outfielder, and I was going three all the way,” said Gurley of his triple to right-center.

“I didn’t realize he had hit for the cycle,” said Kannapolis coachJoe Hubbard. “I had held him up at second base, and there’s no way he was going to hold up. He knew what was at stake. I think it’s the first time in nine years of coaching I’ve seen a kid hit for the cycle, either against me or for us, so that’s pretty special.”

Gurley doubled home a first-inning run, got a clean infield single in the third, flew to right in the fifth, belted a homer over the left-field fence in the seventh, then finished with the triple.

Gurley’s homer, his fourth of the season, was one of three for the visitors off South reliever John Brooks. After Gurley’s triple in the ninth, Chad Tuttle and Chris Williams belted back-to-back blasts. Tuttle’s shot to center was his third of the year, while Williams’ homer to left was his first.

“We all hit the ball well. We’ve all got a little bit of pop,” said Gurley. “We always put runs on the board.”

Kannapolis improved to 5-4, while South Rowan slipped to 2-4. Every game has counted in the West Division Southern District standings.

Right-hander Bobby Helms (1-2) was the winning pitcher for Northwest. He worked the first 52

“I don’t think Bobby had his good stuff, but I think Bobby threw the ball and battled,” said Hubbard. “We wanted to get him through the sixth inning. He hadn’t worked in about a week. But it just didn’t work out. Nick Cadolino had come in and gave us some quality innings the last couple of nights.”

Coach Allen Wilson of South Rowan said. “We ran into a little trouble early in the game getting ahead of hitters and throwing strikes. When you do that, they’re going to hit it.”

Trent Beaver (0-1) was the starter and loser for South, pitching the first four innings. Brooks went 41

“We started out in the hole (3-0 deficit after the top of the first). We made a nice comeback,” said Wilson, whose team pulled within 5-3 with three runs off Helms in the sixth. “I thought we were in the game until the end.”

Two of the game’s biggest plays came in the sixth, after Cadolino relieved Helms with Kannapolis leading 5-2.

Cadolino walked Derick Efird to load the bases, then pitched to Ronnie Shore, who had three straight hits. Shore’s sinking liner to left-center appeared to be going for extra bases, but Kannapolis left fielderNate Amerson made a spectacular diving catch to save at least two runs. The next batter, Drew Callicutt, singled up the middle to drive in a run, but center fielder Ryan Craft’s throw to catcher Williams nailed Ryan Schenk trying to score from second.