LANDIS — By now, everyone realizes the South Rowan American Legion baseball team is more than a novelty act. Much more.
“We are,” shortstop Ronnie Shore pointed out, “the real thing.”
South was all that and then some on Saturday night, when it dismissed Concord from the playoffs with a 4-3 second-round victory. It gave Post 185/146 an unexpected four-game sweep of the series and springboarded the locals into Tuesday’s third-round opener at Asheboro.
“We wanted this one bad,” explained South third-baseman Greg Deal. “That was the big thing — sweeping them. And especially beating a guy two times in a series that not many people beat at all.”
That guy was losing pitcher Brian York, a hard-throwing right-hander who earned seven of Concord’s 12 wins this season. South never seemed intimidated by the college-bound strikeout machine, even after it fell behind 3-2 in the third inning.
“Confidence,” remarked South coach Allen Wilson. “We’ve learned how to win. Earlier in the year, if we’re down 3-2 and Brian York’s on the mound, it probably ends 3-2. Here’s the difference: right now somebody’s stepping up every night. If somebody doesn’t get the big hit tonight, somebody else will.”
South (16-15) gained its 13th win in the past 17 games with a symphonic performance. Even on a night when sore-armed winning pitcher Andrew Morgan wasn’t at his best, his teammates created an opportunity and cashed in.
“My arm’s dead,” Morgan said after yielding nine hits in six innings. “I didn’t have any pop out there. But my defense was fabulous. When the defense makes plays like we did tonight, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have your best stuff.”
What mattered is that South once again found a way to prevail. It took a 2-0 first-inning lead when Shore grounded a leadoff single to left-field, stole second and scored on Aaron Safrit’s base hit to right. Moments later Deal crossed on the first of five wild pitches by York.
Concord (12-16) took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third, when cleanup batter York ripped a two-run double to left-center and then scored on teammate Jeff Kirkpatrick’s line-drive single to center.
“We were ahead but we were still leaving a lot of runners on base,” said York. “That was a problem all series. When you get guys on base, you’ve got to swing the bats. We didn’t. They did.”
South got the game’s biggest break in the decisive bottom of the sixth inning. With one away York induced South’s bantamweight DH Gabe Beaver to swing at a third strike, but the ball eluded catcher Matt Strickland and Beaver reached safely. “Anytime in the playoffs, you’ve got to be good and you’ve got to be lucky,” said Wilson. “And you’ve got to get breaks.”
This one turned the game around. Shore followed with run-scoring double to right-center that tied the score 3-3. He then stole third base — his second theft of the game — and scored the go-ahead run on Brad Matthews’ routine grounder to shortstop.
“With runners at first and third, Coach Wilson told me, ‘Anything up the middle, you’re scoring,’” Shore reported. “As soon as it was hit I went hard.”
Teammate Michael Davis took care of the rest with three innings of hitless relief. The game — and the series — ended dramatically when Kirkpatrick drilled a long flyball that greyhound center-fielder Adam Cornelius grabbed for the win.
“Corny’s a vacuum in center,” said Morgan, who earned his second win of the playoffs. “Nothing drops when he’s out there.”
Added Davis: “We’re playing better but we’re still climbing the mountain. We’re not at our peak yet. This next series will show who South Rowan really is.”
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NOTES: Wilson identified Nick Mayle (4-2, 4.95 ERA) as his likely Game 1 starter on Tuesday.
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Contact David Shaw at 704-797-4259 or sports@salisburypost.com
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