ASHEBORO — Pretty ironic.
South Rowan finally played the game coach Allen Wilson had been waiting to see — only he didn’t get to see it.
An ejected Wilson was a resident of the McCrary Park parking lot and had to listen via the magic of radio to South’s finest moments in six years of American Legion ball. Moments that added up to an inspired 6-5, 10-inning road win over Asheboro, No. 1 seed from Area III North.
South (17-17) still trails the best-of-7 third-round series that decides a berth in the state tournament 2-1, but heads home tonight with a shot at getting even.
“Just wish I’d had a better seat for it,” said a smiling Wilson, who also has been suspended for tonight’s game. “The greatest thing was that after I was tossed, my assistants (Ernie
Faw, David Caldwell and Alan Ritchie) ran the team like it was just normal business.”
You can tell Wilson wasn’t in the dugout. This was normal business about like Shaquille O’Neal is a normal basketball player. About like Kathy Ireland is a normal girl.
South won it in the 10th inning on Adam Cornelius’ first homer of the summer. Fortunately, Cornelius’ tear-jerking blast became the lasting memory of this one rather than an unfortunate umpiring lapse that handed Asheboro a three-run headstart and led to Wilson’s having the worst seat in the house.
Asheboro (26-10) had two on and two out in the first when South pitcher Andrew Morgan struck out Derek Pugh swinging on a pitch low and away. South catcher Jeremy Alderman caught the ball in the air, but it was close enough to the dirt that he turned to the plate umpire for confirmation that the third out had indeed been recorded.
“I definitely caught it,” said Alderman. “There was no dirt in my glove and if I catch one that’s hit the ground, there’s dirt in there. I looked at the umpire just to make sure. He said, “Strike three, the batter’s out!’ ”
The umpire’s right arm also went up high with a balled fist— an emphatic gesture that left no questions. He was not merely indicating a swinging strike — he does that with a pointed right forefinger. This was a fist — an out call.
Pugh was still standing just a few feet from Alderman, but Alderman, confident the correct call had been made, rolled the ball toward the mound and headed to the dugout along with his teammates. Moments later, though, South players heard yells and looked up to find runners tearing around the bases. Brett Andrews, hustling from second base, crossed the plate as bewildered South players threw up their hands in dismay, disbelief and disgust. Faw charged on to the field, clenched fist raised to the heavens to remind everyone that a third-out call as clear as a ringing church bell on Sunday morning had been made.
But the umpiring crew allowed that run to stand, despite long and loud protests from Wilson. The inning continued and Morgan, who was beside himself, yielded a two-run double to Michael Stefanacci. South was in a three-run hole.
After a steaming Wilson strolled to the mound to settle Morgan down, it was just a matter of time before the plate umpire came out to move things along. That’s when Wilson bent his ear a second time and was asked to take a hike. The heave-ho call was pretty emphatic, too.
“The more I sat over there thinking about that call, the madder I got,” said Wilson. “I guess we agreed to disagree. He said he didn’t. I said he did. Getting thrown out wasn’t in my plan, but it did fire our guys up.”
“Emotions,” confirmed Morgan, “were running pretty high.”
“I’ve never been that fired up so early in a ballgame,” said Cornelius. “We were gonna win this one for Coach.”
South got a friendly verdict at the plate to get out of that first inning. Stefanacci tried to score from third on what would have been a wild pitch. Alderman chased the ball down, dove, made the tag, got the call.
South got those tainted runs back in a hurry, scoring four in the second. Raymondo Brady singled in Cornelius and Brandon Hiatt, starting in left because of the injury to Matt Morgan, brought in Gabe Beaver and Brady with his first hit of the summer. Cornelius scored on a home-plate collision, while Beaver danced around a tag. A two-out error scored the last run.
After Asheboro tied it in the bottom of the inning, South went back up 5-4 in the third when Brady’s single plated Cornelius from second. Again there was a crash between Cornelius and catcher Cole
Mullinax, both of whom must have thought, by now, that they were playing football.
“Oh, I was gonna score,” said the normally placid Cornelius, eyes blazing. “I was definitely going to score.”
Asheboro slugger Ben Yow tied it at 5 in the fifth with a long homer. Then both pitchers locked in. Morgan would work nine and fan 11. Asheboro’s Chris Powell, who has heat and a nasty hook, would go nine and fan 15.
“It just took me awhile to get settled back down,” said Morgan. “Just had to get my focus back after that call.”
Morgan, who won his fifth game to set a program single-season record, left the bases full of Asheboro runners in the fifth and stranded two more in scoring position in the seventh. Morgan’s a low-key guy, too, but by then, it would have taken a bulldozer to remove him from the mound.
The tie wasn’t broken until Cornelius stepped to the plate with two outs in the 10th, after he’d watched reliever Seth Pitt blow away those first two South hitters.
“He was throwing hard, so I was sitting fastball,” grinned Cornelius. “I got it.”
He drove it out to left-center and there was no doubt from the moment of impact.
“Cornelius was awesome. He was the man,” proclaimed Morgan. “We were all jumping up and down soon as he swung. It was a shot.”
More drama followed in the last of the 10th, as Faw called on sidearming reliever Tim Cook, who had been bounced around like a beachball by Asheboro hitters in Game 2, to save it for Morgan. Cook got two quick outs, then forced a weak ground ball to third. Greg Deal fielded it cleanly, but sailed his throw over first baseman Aaron Safrit’s head. A distraught Deal, who had fielded a hot shot to end the Mooresville series, crumpled to the ground, as Safrit sunk to his knees. But Cook lifted them back up.
“I told Deal, ‘We’ll get out of this,’ ” said Cook. “I told him there was no way we were gonna lose this game.”
As good as his word, Cook fanned leadoff man John Pugh on a called strike three to ignite a world-class celebration.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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