Mother Nature didn’t do the Rowan County American Legion baseball team any favors Wednesday night.
The locals were denied what they most wanted — a chance to take a 3-0 lead over Mocksville in their second-round playoff series.
“When you’re playing well you don’t want a day off or a break,” first-year Rowan coach Jim Gantt said at Newman Park, where an Old Testament downpour wiped out Game 3. “We were ready. We wanted to go.”
The game is rescheduled for 7:15 tonight at Newman. Top-seeded Rowan (26-2) has won its last 12 games, including a 3-2 victory over Mocksville in Monday’s series opener and an 8-7 win in Game 2 on Tuesday.
“We’ve had two tough losses,” said Mocksville coach Mike Lovelace, whose team has outhit Rowan 18-14 in the series. “We wanted to get out there and do what we have to do to turn this thing around. This next game, whenever we get to play it, is crucial for us. If we go down 3-0 it’s going to be a very tough task to come back.”
Never mind that Mocksville (16-12) has lost each of its four matchups with Rowan this season. Lovelace reports his team remains in a positive mood.
“A lot of people expected us to be down 2-0,” he said. “You listen to their players and what they’re saying in the paper. They expected to be up 2-0. But this has been a close series and our guys aren’t gonna let down. We’re gonna play every out and just see what happens.”
Probable pitchers for tonight’s game are Rowan left-hander Spencer Steedley and 16-year old Mocksville right-hander Chris Crotts. Steedley (5-1, 3.89 ERA) hasn’t pitched since June 24 when he struck out 11 Statesville batters in a first-round victory.
“He needs to pitch,” Gantt emphasized. “He stays sharp that way. He may have better arm strength because of it. And he may have a better fastball. But he may not be able to locate it as well because he’s been resting so long.”
Steedley, a rising junior at East Rowan High School, has hoisted a glow-in-the-dark bat against Mocksville. His two-out, two-run, pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning provided the tying and winning runs in Game 1. And on Tuesday, when Rowan erased an early 5-0 deficit, he went 3-for-5 and belted his ninth double — a missile that crashed off the Rich Park scoreboard and should have been ruled a home run.
“That definitely should have been a home run,” said Gantt, who protested the call. “The fence is wood out there. The scoreboard’s behind the fence and it’s the only thing that’s metal. And that’s what it hit — metal.”
Other Rowan players performing well in the series include catcher Drew Davis (3-for-8, two runners thrown out); Nick Lefko (3-for-9, 3 RBIs); and Jimbo Davis, who clocked his team-high sixth home run on Tuesday.
“I don’t think any of them have the hero syndrome where they’re trying to be the hero every night,” said Gantt. “They just go out and do what they’re supposed to do. When the game happens and unfolds, it’s a different person each night. That’s a good thing.”
Mocksville’s top batter in the series has been Ricky Bentley, the infielder who has gone 4-for-8 out of the leadoff spot. Outfielder Chris Seaford has nine hits in six postseason games and Charlie Ross has collected a hit in six of his past seven.
Third-baseman Casey Stanley, a .375 hitter for the Mocks during the regular season, had a single and a double on Tuesday, snapping out of a 2-for-19 funk.
“That’s important,” said Lovelace. “But mostly, we have to start doing the little things you need to do to win. This series is far from over. We’re going to play as hard as we can until the last out.”
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