KANNAPOLIS — Muscular A.L. Brown gridiron heroes like Josh Lee and Wally Tuttle can probably bench-press 300 pounds or so without thinking twice about it. Still, the strongest guy on the Wonder baseball squad has to be a tall, slim right-handed pitcher named Zach Ward.

Give Ward some kind of power-lifting award, because on Wednesday night, for the umpteenth time this season, the junior hoisted roughly 4,000 pounds of teammates on his shoulders and carried them home.

“Every time he’s touched the hill this year, Zach’s put us on his back,” said Wonder coach Empsy Thompson. “He’s been consistent, But tonight was the biggest one. This was really a big one.”

Ward’s latest gem was a 5-1 3A South Piedmont Conference win over West Rowan.

The Wonders (14-8, 8-7), winners of six straight, could finish 9-7 and might even tie for second in the league. To do that, they must beat Harding Friday and hope that Northwest Cabarrus (6-8) upsets East Rowan (9-6).

The loss hurts West (13-9, 8-7). The Falcons slipped into a muddled morass of seven-loss teams — Piedmont (8-7), Harding (7-7), Sun Valley (7-7) and the Wonders. All are still scrapping for seeding and one of the league’s three state playoff spots.

Had the Falcons won last night and against last-place Concord this Friday, they would have posted a 10-6 league record. That mark would have placed them no worse than a tie for second with East. Now, who knows? Their fate’s no longer exclusively in their hands.

Another factor to remember is that the Wonders swept West. If they end up tied for third, the Wonders own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

West coach Chris Cauble ruefully acknowledged that fact of life.

“This could happen or that could happen these last few days,” he said. “A lot of teams could end up in or out. We’ve now put ourselves in position where we’re probably going to have to win the tournament to make the playoffs.”

Both Cauble and Thompson pointed to the top of the first as the key moment.

West’s speedy leadoff man Matt Morgan got an infield hit, took a lead, then lit out on a steal attempt with Shawn Trosper at the plate. But Wonder catcher Thumper Williams came up gunning a strike to second and Morgan was erased. Trosper and Ben Hampton followed with singles, but West didn’t scratch.

“If Morgan steals second, we score first and maybe we rattle Ward some,” said Cauble.

West didn’t get another chance for the next five innings. From the second through the sixth, Ward did the rattling. He faced just 16 batters in those five frames and fanned eight of them.

“Zach started out real slow, so I helped him out with that throw,” said Williams. “That’s my job. Then once Zach gets rolling, he’s really rolling. He started rolling, if you know what I mean.”

The Falcons know what Williams is talking about. Ward fanned 10 of them when the Wonders beat West 6-1 in Mount Ulla in March.

Radar guns had Ward’s fastball touching 88 mph, but it was his curveball that did the damage.

“When he threw his curve for strikes, we took it,” said Cauble. “When he threw it in the dirt, we swung at it. Ward’s a good pitcher — a very good pitcher. But the thing is, you saw two baseball teams out there and one of them just wanted it more than the other one.”

The Wonders wanted it, but would they ever score against West’s Cory Ruff, who had relieved starter John Brooks in the first inning and escaped a bases-loaded jam? Finally, they did. John Graham’s two-out RBI single in the third shattered the ice.

Then in the fourth, the Wonders bunched five hits for four runs. Brett Stirewalt and Matt Harris got the inning going with bloopers. Graham and Lee smacked in a run apiece and sophomore switch-hitter Daniel Smith, who’s moved into the cleanup spot of late, delivered the big blow— a sharp, two-run single to center.

“The cleanup spot doesn’t phase me,” said Smith, whose father, Moses, is a Wonder assistant. “I like it there. Coach has asked people to step up and I’m trying to take care of business.”

Thompson realized he was in business when the Kannapolis American Legion team, minus its seniors, went down to Webb Field last summer to play powerhouse Concord, which has all those Central Cabarrus players. Thompson had his eyes closed, was ready to throw in a towel, wave a white flag — anything to get the beating over with. To his amazement, his kids not only didn’t get humiliated, they won. An unknown pitcher named Ward threw a two-hitter.

“Zach walked a bunch. Believe he threw 160 pitches that night,” said Thompson marveling at the memory. “But he wouldn’t quit. Wouldn’t come out.”

Thompson knew then he had something special. Still knows it. That’s why he never budged when West made noise in the seventh. One out from nailing down the win, Ward walked Stephen Ashby to put two on. Then he hung a curve to pinch-hitter Corey Rolla, who slapped it to center to foil the shutout. But then a weary Ward reached back and fanned Clay Everson for his 13th strikeout to end the game.

“We were going as far as Zach could take us,” said Thompson. “Kid like that — you’ve got a sense of loyalty to him.”

NOTES:All the Wonders pointed to their recent Easter tourney sweep as a huge lift. Wonder pitchers allowed just two runs in three games. ... Wonder hurler Drew Maher is sidelined with a back injury. ... Each team had a big call go the other way. Wonder fans screamed that Lee had touched home in the fourth when West catcher Hampton blocked the plate. Lee was ruled out. West didn’t get a critical call to lead off the seventh. It appeared that Smith failed to find first base with his foot as Hampton sped to the bag, but Hampton was ruled out. .. Cauble praised Ruff and Hampton’s defense behind the plate.