LANDIS — Cal Hayes Jr. hit his first AmericanLegion inside-the-park home run as Rowan County downed South Rowan 13-5 in a Southern Division baseball game here Sunday night.
Hayes’ two-out shot just past the glove of diving center fielder Adam Cornelius highlighted a three-run third inning that both coaches thought was the biggest hit of the night at South Rowan High School.
It was one of three Rowan homers and seven extra-base hits as coach Jim Gantt’s club improved to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Jimbo Davis, who leads the club with three homers, had opened the third with a blast over the short fence in left-center.
Aaron Rimer, who had belted a grand slam the night before in an 8-3 Rowan win at NewmanPark, hit a two-run, opposite-field home run to left-center in the sixth.
Rowan held a 4-3 lead when Hayes came to the plate in the fourth.
“I thought he (Cornelius) was going to catch it,” said Gantt. “If he would have caught it, that would have been tough. It was 4-3 and they would have been coming in with momentum. They had been swinging the bat well.”
South coach Allen Wilson said, “Calvin hits a shot out to center. Adam makes his only play, I thought. I don’t think he had another play because of the angle of the ball and the way he was going. He tries to dive and he missed it by a foot. It turns into a home run. From there we give up a couple of more. That was the biggest play of the night.”
Hayes raced around the bases and scored ahead of the throw for Rowan’s first inside-the-parker in several years.
“The last one I remember was Nick Heard,” said Gantt, “and it was here. He hit it right in the corner (right-center) at 400. They didn’t even get close to the ball. I was coaching first at the time. There wasn’t even a play at the plate.”
Former star Heard, like Hayes, had exceptional speed.
Rowan beat South twice in two nights, but Gantt was impressed with Wilson’s club, which is 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the league.
“They’re off to a slow start, but they swing the bat well.It seems like you never can relax,” said the Rowan coach. “We didn’t relax really until late in the game there, the eighth or ninth inning. It’s probably one of those situations where, if they get a couple of wins and then get their confidence up, then that can snowball into a lot of wins in a hurry.”
“They outslugged us. They beat us tonight. That’s the bottom line,” said Wilson.
Gantt’s Rowan team has now won five straight games since losing to 8-6 in a league game on May 23, and Gantt likes his team’s momentum.
“I think they feel like they’ve got a chance every game, the way we’re swinging the bat and we come up with big defensive plays and pitchers making good pitches when they need it,” he said.
Rowan returns to Newman Park at 7:15 p.m. today, and Gantt expects quite a pitching match-up between Rowan southpaw Julian Sides and Concord’s
BrianYork, a UNC Charlotte signee.
“He’s tough. I think he pitched on Thursday. That would be three day’s rest,” said Gantt of York, who also plays third base.
“I think Julian’s about due for a really good game. He’s pitched good at times and he getting better each time he goes out there, and I just look for him to have a good game,” said Gantt.
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