Dream series a near-miss

Getting ready for the American Legion Area III baseball series …

Rowan County already boasts impeccable baseball credentials.

But what would the rest of the state’s reaction have been if not only Rowan, but South Rowan, too, had reached the 2001 State Tournament?

It’s a dream that fell only a little short for the first time in South Rowan’s short history. And, perhaps more this season than any other, much of Rowan County was rooting for it.

“It would’ve been much better. We talked about how great it would be to go to state together,”said Rowan County head coach Jim Gantt.

Gantt’s reference to a “we” includes SouthRowan coach Allen Wilson. The friendship they share — Wilson helped Gantt coach the Catawba baseball team last year — has helped turn a natural rivalry tinged with a bit of animosity into a much more friendly affair.

The season South enjoyed didn’t hurt, either. Instead of languishing in the basement all summer, South languished, then lashed out in the playoffs. Asheboro finally put a stop to South’s postseason run, and now Gantt’s Rowan County team gets to face Asheboro starting on Thursday instead of everybody’s favorite underdog.

“Everybody out here pretty much wanted them to win,”Rowan pitcher Brandon Doby said of South. “I was happy they went this far. Rivals or not, they’re a county team and you always want to see them do well.”

The respect factor has been mutual.

“They’ve been saying things this season about our players. ‘So-and-so had three hits the other night,’ keeping up with how they’re doing, and our guys have gone down and watched them on a night off,”Gantt said. “Baseball’s a game for making friends.”

Gantt andWilson have chatted lately about the Asheboro-South series, of course, but they also spoke on a regular basis throughout the season. With both coaches fostering a positive relationship, it’s easy to see how the players have fallen in line.

“We need to help each other,” Gantt said. “It’s about promoting better baseball.”

The only hang-up could rest with the fans. When scores from the other games were announced this summer at Newman Park and South Rowan High, a few cheers still surfaced if the other Rowan team happened to be trailing — or boos if one team was performing a bit too well.

Old habits die hard for die-hard fans.

“They may never be all the way there,” Gantt said with a smile.

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writing some notes: Does playing in the AmericanLegion Baseball regionals count as an excused absence?

The amazing run enjoyed by the Rowan County squad this season could lead to some interesting — and not easy — problems down the road.

The State Tournament begins Aug. 2, with a trip to the regionals in Georgia on the line. Rowan-Salisbury Schools start Aug. 7, and football teams will be missing plenty of key athletes for the first few weeks of practice.

College-bound Phillip Goodman owns the biggest conflict, though. Classes at East Carolina start on Aug. 15, and he has to be in Greenville on the 12th.

“If we end up winning state and go to the regionals, school will have started for me,”Goodman said. “I want to keep playing, but it’s my first year of school and it’s going to be hard.”

Goodman said it’s a sure bet no special exceptions will be made for a student who’d like to get a late start to play baseball — “They probably won’t like that too much,” — he commented, referring to his professors or the dean of students.

Gantt, who walks that fine line with his baseball players at Catawba of academics and athletics, realizes Goodman might have a hard decision coming up.

“We certainly hope he doesn’t have to leave us, but it could happen,”Gantt said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do baseball-wise that would be more important that his education.”

It could all be a moot point should Rowan not emerge as the North Carolina champion, but Goodman would prefer having that tough dilemma to sort out.

“I hope I have to worry about it,”Goodman said. “I’d like to win state.”

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RUN TO DAYLIGHT: Gantt accepted tons of good-natured grief from his assistants after running Aaron Rimer into two outs at the plate in Rowan’s wild 12-9 Game 2 win in the Burlington series.

On one play, Rimer was at second base when Spencer Steedley hit a one-out screamer through the right side. Gantt waved Rimer, who is fast but not Carl Lewis, homeward, even though a strong throw was winging its way to the plate before Rimer had even touched third.

Rimer was out by 20 feet or so.

“(Assistant coach) Michael Lowman asked me on that one, ‘Uh, Coach, what exactly did you see there?’ ” reported a sheepish Gantt.

Fortunately, Gantt’s aggressiveness on the bases has paid off more often than not with Rowan runs.

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HOME, SWEET HOME: It’s not like Rowan catcher Drew Davis minds playing second base on occasion. He knows it helps keep him from wearing down and also realizes it gives Gantt a chance to get the power of Ben Hampton, who’s also primarily a catcher, in the lineup.

Still, Davis always breathes a sigh of relief late in games that Rowan is leading. That’s when he goes back behind the plate and Michael Gegorek comes in at second for defensive purposes.

“Behind the plate — that’s always gonna be home,” said Davis after Rowan’s Game 2 win at Burlington.

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Contact Steve Hanf or Mike London at 704-797-4259 or sports@salisburypost.com .