GARNER— Time stood still Friday afternoon as the pitch registered in Frank Hart’s mind.
The home plate umpire had just seen a pair of dandy breaking balls from Spencer Steedley. The first one, starting high and dropping into the strike zone, he had no problem with.
But with an 0-2 count and the game on the line, the next pitch froze Hart — a curve that arched on a perfect line into Drew Davis’ mitt, thigh-high and over the middle of the plate.
Enough time elapsed between the catch and the call that Taylor Ingle turned around, bat still on his shoulder, to await the decision. Fans and players on both sides held their breath, and then, the punchout. Strike 3.
Rowan’s players spilled out of the dugout to celebrate their 6-5 win and extended life at the American Legion Baseball State Tournament. Rutherford County’s crew, in disbelief over the agonizingly delayed call, packed up their gear and called it a season.
“If you haven’t seen Spencer before, you can be fooled as an umpire,”Rowan head coach Jim Gantt said. “His pitches break so late.”
“I thought they were strikes,”added Steedley, who threw the last two innings to earn the save.“He hadn’t been calling them all game, but the last one I knew he had to give to me.”
The victory sets up a showdown with an all too familiar foe — Asheboro — today at 4 p.m. in another losers bracket game in the double-elimination tournament.
Asheboro nipped Rowan for the Area III title last week in a heated, see-saw series that came down to a one-run Asheboro win at Newman Park in Game 7.
Rowan outscored Asheboro 58-56 in that series, but came out on the short end in games.
But Friday’s comeback offers Rowan a chance to exact some sweet revenge, as well as the chance to spend a bit more time in Garner.
“I’d much rather be here,”Rowan third baseman Bobby Parnell said.“We worked too hard just to go home after two games.”
Rowan (36-8) flirted with elimination from the start of Friday’s 10 a.m. contest. After allowing a quick run in the top of the first, Rutherford County (25-13) knocked Phillip Goodman around for four runs on five hits.
Suddenly, the Rowan offense had to produce, but couldn’t get the job done against starting pitcher Jason Bailey.
Bailey stranded eight Rowan baserunners in the first six innings. Gantt’s team scratched for a solo run in the third inning on Drew Davis’ double, but left him at second. Trailing 5-2 in the fifth, Rowan tallied a single run on Cal Hayes Jr.’s third single of the game and a big two-out hit from Steedley, but again left two runners on.
Rowan reliever Jacob Cooper, who replaced Goodman in the second inning, made sure Rutherford County didn’t increase its lead. Finally, in the seventh inning, Rowan pulled even.
Drew and Jimbo Davis opened the frame with line singles and advanced to second and third on Steedley’s groundout. Parnell, batting sixth in the lineup Friday instead of seventh, sent a line drive to the wall in right-center that brought both runs around.
As he crossed the plate with the tying run, Jimbo Davis pumped his fist, knowing the comeback was nearly complete.
Hayes finished it off in the eighth. Reliever Melvin Digh walked the leadoff man on four pitches. On a fake pickoff move to first, Digh balked to put Hayes at second. He went to third on Aaron Rimer’s infield single, and a Drew Davis sac fly to deep center provided the game-winner.
“We knew Rowan was scrappy, and that shortstop’s tough,”Rutherford coach Chris White said. “Those three runs he scored, he manufactured those with his speed. You can’t defense that.”
Rowan’s excitement at its new-found lead died quickly when William Guffey opened the bottom of the eighth with a double.
Gantt called on Steedley, who struck out Mark Hudson swinging at a low fastball before Eric Pruett singled sharply to left. Hudson didn’t try to score and after Pruett’s stolen base, runners were at second and third with one out.
Steedley did a great job to force designated hitter Andrew Norville into popping up, but Rowan County center fielder NickLefko lost the ball off the bat. Hayes charged back from his shortstop position and made an over-the-shoulder catch in short center, then whirled toward home, ready to fire. But Guffey hadn’t tagged up, and the inning ended on the next play, a grounder to Hayes.
Rowan stranded its 11th and 12th runners of the game in the top of the ninth, making Steedley work the bottom half with no margin for error. After getting one quick out, Brian Fish singled to center. Another high pop to Hayes went for the second out, but Steedley walked Matt Tipton to put the tying run in scoring position.
Steedley started Ingle off with a fastball over the heart of the plate, then threw what he said where the only two off-speed pitches that went for strikes in his two innings of work.
“He was a good pitcher, but we’ve been in that situation a lot of times this year,”White said. “We haven’t been able to hit the baseball.”
Because of that, Rowan remained in Garner and Rutherford made the long drive home.
“We weren’t down after our last game,”Steedley said of the loss Thursday to Wilmington. “We knew we would come back and play good today. But it’ll be a lot better tonight.”
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NOTES: Rutherford County lost a fifth run in the first inning when Hudson was thrown out at the plate. Lefko threw a perfect relay to Hayes, who fired an even more perfect strike to Drew Davis, blocking the plate. Hudson went tumbling over Davis and the plate and was tagged out. … Steedley just missed extra bases when Pruett dove to snag his grounder along the line in the seventh. Still, he was pleased with the one hit he did have. “I’ve been in a slump. I haven’t been making good contact,”Steedley said. “That time I got a big hit.” … Drew Davis was 3-for-3 with three runs driven in. Hayes was 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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