KANNAPOLIS— Wyatt Allen showed off his educated right arm Friday night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
The University of Tennessee product had to use his head more than anything in the Intimidators’ 8-4 victory over visiting Lakewood.
“I think Wyatt pitched an outstanding game,” interim manager Ken Dominguez said after Kannapolis (22-26, 69-48 overall) earned its third straight win. “He listened to what (pitching coach) J.R. Perdew told him to do in the bullpen. Then he went out on the mound and did it.”
Allen, a 21-year-old who started two games in last June’s NCAA World Series, made an important adjustment in his delivery and collected his fourth professional victory.
“In my last start I was throwing side-to-side and coming across my body,” he said. “When you do that, you tend to leave balls up and miss your location. That’s what I had to concentrate on.”
In his last start — Tuesday night at Hickory — Allen was shelled for five runs on seven hits in just 223 innings. Last night he did an about-face, yielding three singles and striking out seven in seven shutout innings.
“He was driving the ball downhill more,” said Perdew. “He was getting on top of the ball. He had all three of his pitches going good, but the best one was the driving fastball.”
Allen faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings and never ran into trouble until the seventh, when Lakewood (23-24, 51-66 overall) loaded the bases with two out. But Allen escaped by inducing Scott Youngbauer to swing through an 0-2 curveball in the dirt, a pitch called by Kannapolis catcher Wally Rosa.
“Wally and I had a good game plan tonight,” Allen said. “We knew how to pitch to these guys. Even when I shook him off, it seemed to work out for us.”
The same went for teammate Casey Rogowski, who broke out of a mild slump with two hits and two RBIs. The slugging first-baseman opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth when he clubbed a solo home run off Lakewood starter Yoel Hernandez — a blink-and-you-missed-it blast over the Texaco Star sign in right-centerfield.
“It was a 1-0 slider that he hung over the middle of the plate,” said Rogowski, the team leader with 13 homers. “I don’t think it did what he wanted it to do.”
Kannapolis padded its lead to 3-0 in the fifth when Darren Ciraco scored on a two-out error and Mike Spidale skipped an RBI-single past third base.
An inning later the Intimidators broke the game open with five more runs. Run-scoring hits were delivered by Rogowski, Francisco Lebron, Derek Wigginton and Ralph Flores.
“There were a couple of walks to start it off and I singled to score the first run,” Rogowski said. “From then on it seemed like the ball had eyes.”
Lakewood scored its runs in the top of the ninth against erratic reliever Matt Smith and finisher Rolando Garza. It spoiled the Intimidators’ bid for their 15th shutout of the season.
Still, it did little to tarnish the humid evening for Dominguez, who posted a 3-0 record while subbing for suspended manager Razor Shines.
“I’m proud of my record, but I’m also proud of the kids,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy winning. But they’re the ones who go out and play the game.”
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NOTES: An afternoon lightning strike knocked out the stadium scoreboard and sound system until shortly before gametime. ... Shines returns to duty tonight, having served a two-day suspension following his ejection from Tuesday’s game at Hickory. ... Whiffmaster Dan Mozingo (8-4, 2.50 ERA, 109 strikeouts) pitches tonight for Kannapolis.
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Contact David Shaw at sports@salisburypost.com
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