The Rowan County American Legion baseball team trailed Mocksville-Davie 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night when AaronRimer ripped a line drive to center field. The bases were loaded with one out, and everybody in Newman Park knew the ball traveled far enough to score NickLefko from third on a sacrifice fly.

As all eyes quickly shifted from Brad Bullard’s catch in center to the potential play at the plate, a stunned murmur swept through the crowd.

Lefko remained at third.

“As soon as the ball was hit, everybody jumped up. We knew it was going to be tied or that we’d won it,”Rowan starting pitcher Julian Sides said. “Nick didn’t go — but everything worked out in the end.”

Mocksville’s reprieve proved fleeting. Pinch-hitter Spencer Steedley connected on a two-out single that easily brought Lefko in from third to tie the game. Shortly behind was Drew Davis, who scored the winning run from second base to give Rowan a thrilling 3-2 victory in the first game of the best-of-7 second-round series.

“I just had to stay calm and wait for my pitch,”Steedley said. “I knew it was down (for a hit). I just waited to see what Drew did.”

Rowan’s ninth-inning heroics capped a night of amazing baseball. The game ended in just two hours, as Sides and Mocksville’s Cody Wright did the job from the mound and got great defensive help behind them.

Wright surrendered a first-inning run when Cal Hayes Jr. doubled and scored on a Lefko single. The hard-throwing right-hander then ended the first two frames with double-play balls and retired 11 straight over the middle innings.

“Cody Wright pitched a great game,”Mocksville-Davie head coach Mike Lovelace said. “He had them a little puzzled at the plate.

“We made some great plays all night— Bullard made two catches against the wall, we turned a couple of double plays. It was just a great ballgame.”

Sides, who improved to 4-0, got the same results but found himself pitching out of trouble on a regular basis. Mocksville (16-11) put two runners on in four of the first five innings before finally scratching in the fifth.

Two-out hits from Dave Poplin and Travis Allen gave Mocksville a 2-1 edge that seemed even bigger considering Wright’s performance. Sides did his job, settling down for a couple of easy innings. Then he waited for the offense to come through — like it always seems to.

“I like the pressure. It makes you bear down on every pitch,”Sides said. “I was hoping we’d break loose. I never thought it would come down the way it did.”

Rowan (25-2) narrowly missed on earlier chances to even the score. In the bottom of the sixth, Hayes crushed a high fastball that seemed certain to leave the park, but Bullard pulled it in at the wall, stranding a runner at third.

It was Jimbo Davis’ turn in the seventh to have a long blast land just short in Bullard’s grasp. And in the eighth inning, Bobby Parnell reached on an error to lead off the frame, but remained at first after two strikeouts. Hayes was down in the count 1-2 when Parnell attempted to steal and was thrown out.

“They threw Parnell out at second, but Cal was in the hole,”Gantt said. “I don’t know what else you can ask for being down a run and having your 1-2-3 up in the ninth inning.”

Wright had thrown just 96 pitches when he took the mound to start the ninth. Hayes returned to the plate with new life but popped out to short left for one out.

Lefko quickly fell behind 1-2 before lining a double to left-center. On the first pitch Drew Davis saw, he lined a solid single to right that could’ve scored Lefko — except for the ball hanging up too long, forcing Lefko to wait and make sure it wasn’t caught.

An intentional walk to Jimbo Davis set up the double play and brought on Ryan Weavil to close out the Rowan rally. Rimer’s liner to center went for the second out and Gantt called on Steedley to bat for designated hitter BenHampton, who’s been hot lately but had struck out his previous two trips.

“Hampton had not been swinging the bat well his last couple of at-bats. He was trying to do too much,”Gantt said. “Steedley’s a good hitter. I was lucky it came down to that.”

Steedley worked a 2-1 count before connecting on another solid liner to right. The throw home came too late and he had the first game-winning hit of his career.

Rowan’s players surged out of the dugout to celebrate, while Lovelace herded his crew down the left-field line to erase any doubts about the close loss.

“We knew it was a seven-game series and that it’d be a tough series for both teams,”Lovelace said. “They’re a great baseball team and when you don’t execute, they’ll take advantage of it.”

As all the Rowan players mingled in the stands with their friends and family, Lefko remained alone in the dugout thinking about what-might’ve-been. Gantt walked over and offered a few words of comfort, as did assistant coach Sandy Moore.

“I know when I turned around (in the third base coach’s box) and saw the look on his face, nobody felt worse than NickLefko,”Gantt said. “That’s why it’s a team sport. Other people pick you up.

“If he doesn’t hit that double, we’re not even in that situation. And it was a 1-2 pitch. That was clutch.”

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