No underdog in South-Concord series

LANDIS — The oldest cliche in the book is that the playoffs are a brand new season.

But usually cliches don’t grow old unless they’re true.

Sixth-seeded Concord and seventh-seeded South Rowan proved that last week, taking advantage of fresh starts and upsetting higher-seeded neighboring rivals in a pair of electrifying five-game series.

South, guided by second-year coach Allen Wilson, took out Mooresville, while Concord, led by first-year coach Josh Stamey, eliminated Kannapolis, a team that tied the Moors for second place in the regular season.

Monday night at Webb Field, No. 6 and No. 7 get together head to head in the second round of the Area III Southern Division playoffs, guaranteeing at least one Cinderella entry will join the big boys in the Area III semifinals. Either South or Concord will play the top-seeded survivor from the Northern Division semis for a berth in the state tournament.

South-Concord should be fun. Both teams have won 12 games and both are hot. South (12-15) has won nine of 13. Concord (12-12) has won six of nine.

Concord’s obviously not afraid of a South team that got little respect from anyone until two weeks ago. Just as obviously, South’s not afraid of a Concord team it beat 4-3 in Landis and led at Webb Field, before a Brian York grand slam turned things around in a 10-5 Concord victory.

It’s fair to say that South was cheering hard for Concord to beat Kannapolis — which pounded South twice — while Concord certainly didn’t mind seeing a highly regarded Mooresville team topple like a tree.

South players go into this series with more confidence than they’ve had at any time in their history after pulling out three thrillers in the first round.

“We all feel we’re peaking at just the right time,” said shorststop Ronnie Shore.

South is doing a lot of things right, right now.

The defense, led by third baseman Greg Deal, was excellent against Mooresville.

No one on the offense jumps out at you, except for leadoff man Shore, who’s shattered the program record for stolen bases (20) and leads the team in runs (22). But everyone from 1-9 in the lineup is a threat. Outfielders Matt Morgan and Adam Cornelius lead the team with 18 RBIs apiece, while first baseman Aaron Safrit’s hit half of South’s 10 homers.

Second baseman Brad Matthews, who, ironically, played for Concord earlier in the season, has added some punch and speed at the bottom of the lineup. He was 4-for-9 against the Moors.

Meanwhile, South’s pitching staff took a giant step forward in the Mooresville series. Unofficial series MVP Nick Mayle (4-2) had two impressive starts and has won four straight decisions. In fact, the left-hander’s last loss was to Concord. He was the victim of York’s slam.

Another lefty, Andrew Morgan, has the team’s best ERA (3.43) and will likely start Game 1. He’s pitched consistently all summer.

Right-handers Tim Cook and Brandon Hiatt give Wilson two steady hands in the bullpen. But South needs to get right-hander Mike Davis going. Wilson needs a quality start or two from him in this series.

Concord’s led, of course, by York, who blew away Kannapolis twice on the mound last week and is also the division’s most feared power hitter. Concord’s second-best player is pitcher/outfielder Todd Greene, who won the pivotal Game 4 against Kannapolis by himself, tossing a complete game and belting two homers.

Stamey rides his two horses a long way. Both pitched a ton of innings against Kannapolis and both made amazingly effective starts on two days of rest.

Lately, Concord’s stars have been getting help from the squad’s younger members. Fourteen-year-old catcher/first baseman Chris Taylor’s bat’s been on fire and second baseman Justin Ridenhour gets big hits.

One thing’s for sure, neither team enters this series in an underdog frame of mind.

“The way we’re playing now, we believe we can hang in there with anybody,” said Deal. “Anybody.”

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com .