If you’ve put off attending that first American Legion baseball game of the summer, wait no longer.

And it might not be a bad idea to get to Newman Park a little early.

A classic contest has emerged in the Area III championship series — the power pitching of Asheboro vs. the overwhelming offense of Rowan County.

“It should be a good, fun matchup,”Asheboro head coach Tony McKee said. “It’ll challenge our pitching staff, challenge their hitters. Everybody knows we’ve got a little bit of pitching, everybody knows they swing the bats a little bit. That should give us some good games.”

The matchup makes for a nice backdrop to a series in which nothing is truly at stake. By reaching the title series, both teams have qualified for the state tournament that starts Aug. 2 in Garner. The label “Area IIIChampion”certainly holds a better ring to it than “runner-up,” but for the first time this postseason, neither team is staring a must-win situation in the face.

“The pressure’s off a little bit,”Rowan starting pitcher Brandon Doby said. “But we’re still going out there to try to win.”

Added head coach JimGantt, “We’d like to be Area IIIchampions. If they’re gonna keep score, we’ll try to win it.”

To do that, Rowan (32-3) must solve an Asheboro pitching corps that limited South Rowan to 11 runs in the previous five-game series. Led by ace hurler Lance Cole, the Asheboro staff struck out 68 South batters.

“I was talking to (South coach) Allen (Wilson) about their bullpen and he said he didn’t have any idea,”Gantt said. “They never got into it.”

Cole, a rising senior at Asheboro High, pitched two nine-inning complete games. He’s 8-1 for the season.

Gantt hasn’t seen Cole pitch, although he did see the right-hander perform at the State Games earlier this month.

“He’s not a speedster — that’s all I know,” Gantt said with a grin. “I saw him run the 60 and throw from the outfield, but we had to leave before he pitched to get back for a game that night.”

Big Michael Stefanacci is 5-1 this season in his starting assignments. He got the nod in Game 2 vs. South and struck out 11 in nine innings. The starters for Games 3 and 4, Chris Powell and Seth Pitt, each fanned 15.

While Cole frequently mixed in a nasty curveball, many of Asheboro’s strikeouts came via the fastball.

That’s something Rowan pitcher Phillip Goodman pointed out at a recent practice, to which Doby quickly added, “We should be all right. We’ve got a fastball-hitting team.

“You can’t hold our offense for nine innings,”Doby added emphatically. “No way.”

The numbers back up Doby’s confidence. Rowan hasn’t been shut out this season. In 19 of its 35 games, Rowan has scored in double figures.

Over the course of the regular season, Rowan outscored its opponents by an average of 10.8-4.6. In 13 playoff games, the differential is 10.3-3.9.

Cal Hayes Jr. gets it all going from the leadoff spot. He boasts a .451 batting average and has 32 stolen bases. Designated hitter Spencer Steedley and leftfielder Jimbo Davis are hitting near .400. Davis and rightfielder Aaron Rimer share the team lead with 42 RBIs. Centerfielder Nick Lefko and catcher Drew Davis are well over .300 and hit for power, too.

“What we hear from college coaches and other people who have seen them is that Hayes is a tremendous athlete who runs the bases well and that the top part of their lineup has a lot of power,”McKee said.

That formula has made life easy on the Rowan starters.

“Usually I don’t feel much pressure,”Goodman said. “We’ve got a good hitting team and I know I’ve got a great defense back there that’s going to make plays.”

Added Doby, “Our mentality is to go out and give the offense a chance to win the game.”

Doby is the likely Game 2 starter, while lefty Julian Sides should take the mound tonight at Newman Park at 7:15. Goodman and Steedley will follow later in the series depending on how — or if — Gantt needs to use them out of the bullpen.

Asheboro (28-10) didn’t score many runs against South — its biggest run total was nine, and it scraped out an average of three earned runs per game.

“If I’m ever greedy, it’s probably there. We got enough to get by last series, but I want more hits,”McKee said. “Every time you go on to the next level, you’ve got to be prepared to produce a little bit more.”

Especially if the Rowan offense can produce against Asheboro’s stable of able arms. Gantt’s not certain his offense will prevail, but he too believes his team is in for one heck of a series.

“Good pitching always shuts down good hitting,”Gantt said. “And you can’t steal first base.”

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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com .