Cleaning out the Rowan County American Legion baseball notebook …

The play accounted for a mere two outs in a season that would see more than 1,000 recorded.

But as first-year head coach Jim Gantt watched the play unfold in one of the summer’s first games, he got the full picture of exactly how good the Rowan County American Legion baseball squad could be.

Right fielder Aaron Rimer drifted back on a fly ball as opposing runners tagged at second and third. Rimer positioned himself to come up throwing —to home, Gantt and his assistant coaches assumed. Rimer knew the run was going to score, though, and instead fired a strike to third base for a double play.

“He did that on his own, from previous coaching,”Gantt said. “I knew then that we had a chance.”

Rowan, despite its losses from the previous summer and its youth, exceeded good. Gantt’s team finished 36-9, winning the division title, taking second in Area III and finally ending the year at the state tournament in Garner.

“I watched them grow up, especially the guys who were 15,”Gantt said. “It amazed me how they kept things in the proper perspective. Thirty minutes after a game, it was like nothing ever happened — if they did a lot of great things, they didn’t bask in their own glory; if they lost, they didn’t dwell on that either.”

Gantt enjoyed watching Rowan hit the ball seemingly at will, turn sparkling plays in the field and pitch out of jams. What he liked even more was the team’s attitude.

“It was nice to go through a season with guys who didn’t throw their helmets and bats, or beat up the water cooler every time they made an out,”Gantt said. “They see that stuff on TV and some kids think that’s the way they’re supposed to act.

“Who knows, maybe they’ll do that next year when they think they’re supposed to be a really good team.”

The pressure may be on Rowan next summer, as only Shawn Trosper aged off the 2001 team. Four left-handed pitchers return. An unreal number of seniors will be trying to leave their mark on the storied Rowan tradition.

“We’re almost all back,”catcher Drew Davis said. “We wanted to win it now, but we know we still made it this far this year. At the beginning, nobody expected us to be here.”

As far as Gantt’s concerned, though, this summer will be a tough act to follow.

“It’s a great group of guys, a great group of families,”Gantt said. “I had a good time this summer.”

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close to home: The stars may be perfectly aligned for a long Rowan postseason run next summer.

Area III will serve as host for the state tournament. To this point, Rowan County, Asheboro and Kannapolis all have bids in to bring the event to their place.

And Shelby, this year’s state champion, already earned a back-to-back trip to the regionals — the 2002 event will be in Shelby next summer after landing in Georgia this year.

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helping hand: He was announced the most experienced bat-boy in Legion baseball at one game, but Bob Lowman serves in many more capacities than that from the Rowan County dugout.

Lowman is the assistant athletic director for the Legion team, under Banks Barringer, and provides a helping hand wherever and whenever he can — whether it’s picking up bats or advising the Rowan players.

“Banks and Bob took care of us all summer,”Gantt said. “Bob does it all — he keeps us motivated and alert. He’s as much a coach as any of us.”

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BATTING CROWN! Rowan’s sixth-inning rally in Saturday’s season finale didn’t look like it would get off to a promising start.

Trailing Asheboro 11-3, relief pitcher Tyler Morgan stepped to the plate for his first at-bat of the Legion season. Morgan, a rising junior at East, didn’t even play varsity baseball in the spring, so had no at-bats at that level, either.

After falling behind in the count against Asheboro starter Chris Powell, the left-handed Morgan worked the count full. He then lined a solid single the opposite way and scored the first of 10 Rowan runs on Spencer Steedley’s double.

“That just shows how mental this game is,”Gantt said. “He goes up there knowing he can get a hit off that pitcher and he did.”

Morgan wasn’t done after getting his first career Legion hit. As the 10th batter of the inning, he grounded a single through the right side of the infield to pull Rowan within 11-10.

He later scored. After a seventh-inning strikeout — looking like a seasoned veteran going after a nice fastball — he settled for a summer batting average of .667: 2-for-3, two runs scored and an RBI.

“He hit in his batting practice group all year, did all the drills,”Gantt said. “We know that eventually, he’s probably going to be playing a position for us.”

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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com .