KANNAPOLIS— You’d expect Casey Rogowski to receive a standing ovation Sunday. It was the last home game of 2001 for the Kannapolis Intimidators and Rogowski is the team’s most popular — and arguably, its best — player.
He got his standing ovation, but the scenario was not what anyone envisioned. Rogowski sprained his ankle running out a grounder in the bottom of the first inning and got his ovation as he was being wheeled off the field on a golf cart. His shaken teammates never recovered and fell to the Hagerstown Suns 4-2.
The Intimidators lost all four games in their series with Hagerstown and all but fell out of the playoff race. They are 412 games out of the wild card spot with just eight games remaining.
“We’re definitely on the downslide right now,” said starting pitcher Jim Bullard. “We need to execute more, pitching and hitting-wise.”
The most amazing thing about the season is that Kannapolis (74-57) could end up with the league’s third best overall record and still not be one of the four teams in the postseason. A lethargic second half has produced a 27-35 record.
“We just haven’t gotten the breaks,” said Joey Gillikin of the second-half slide. “(Hagerstown) is getting little bloop hits, scoring guys from second and third. We get guys on second and third and we hit the ball harder but right at them.”
Gillikin was probably the most surprised person among the 2,000 bodies inside Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium when Rogowski went down. That’s because manager Razor Shines called his name to play first base. Gillikin is listed as a catcher.
“I thought I was the last person Razor would put in,” he chuckled.
After a 20-minute delay while trainers attended to Rogowski, Bullard, a 6-foot-7 lefty, tried to gather his composure.
“I was pretty upset,” said the stringbean from West Covina, Calif. “I just tried to stay focused and play through it.”
And for six innings, he did, matching Hagerstown starter Rapheal Rigueiro pitch for pitch.
He was also leading 1-0.
In the bottom of the third, a perfect sacrifice bunt by Jeremy Ison put runners on second and third. Michael Spidale then nubbed a grounder off the 6-6 Rigueiro’s glove, scoring Wally Rosa.
The Intimidators made several good defensive plays to help their pitcher. Third baseman John Lackaff saved a run in the top of the third with a lunging grab, then firing out a runner from foul territory. Derek Wigginton made a diving stab in left field in the fourth. But when the seventh came, so did the Suns’ bats.
“I was doing well for six innings,” Bullard scoffed, “and the seventh sucked.”
He loaded the bases with one out and Trey Lunsford singled home two runs for a 2-1 lead, signalling the end for Bullard (3-2). Reliever Arnoldo Muñoz allowed another run to score before the inning was over.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kannapolis missed out on a golden opportunity. Francisco Lebron doubled Gillikin to third with no outs. Lackaff’s fielder’s choice scored him but no more damage was done as reliever Jackson Markert put out the fire.
Hagerstown scored again in the ninth and the Intimidators went down quietly in the bottom half, continuing the frustration that has followed this team since the second half began.
Afterward, the Intimidators weren’t thinking as much about the loss as they were their fallen teammate.
“Casey is one of the big leaders on this team,” Gillikin said. “You hate to see it happen to anybody, but we rely on him a lot. As far as filling his shoes, that’s hard to do.”
But with Rogowski’s status day-to-day, they must try.
“We think we’re going to turn it around,” said Gillikin, the ultimate optimist. “Our attitudes are changing. We’re going to win some games.”
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