MOCKSVILLE — Rowan County American Legion coach Jim Gantt claims he didn’t see all this coming.

The youngest Rowan team in years rolled at Mocksville-Davie 8-0 on Wednesday night, improving to 10-1 on the season and leaving Gantt feeling a bit dazed and confused.

“I was just hoping we could win 10 games all season,” said Gantt with a straight face.

Instead, division-leading Rowan appears a cinch for 25 or 30.

To hear Mocksville coach Mike Lovelace tell it, Rowan might be headed for a thousand W’s.

“Rowan’s the best team I’ve seen,” he said. “Up and down the lineup, they’re strong. We’d seen ’em before and we knew we’d need to play pretty much a flawless game to beat them.”

Mocksville didn’t.

It was a strange game, not nearly as lopsided as the final score. Mocksville (7-5, 3-4), which had won five in a row coming in, had 10 hits and stranded 13 baserunners, numbers not often associated with shutouts.

“It sure wasn’t easy,” said Gantt. “We just got some big hits. They didn’t.”

Rowan left-hander Spencer Steedley didn’t have the zip on his fastball that he had during the high school season, but still got Mocksville batters out with curves and sliders.

Steedley, who worked seven innings, was in trouble more often than the class clown. He never had a 1-2-3 inning, but was mentally tough enough to get the important outs and improved to 4-0. Daniel Cauble finished up with two solid frames, yielding only two infield hits.

Rowan watched two lengthy hitting streaks end — Cal Hayes Jr’s 19-game streak dating back to last season and Shawn Trosper’s eight-game streak of success this year. Still, the streak that really matters — Rowan’s team winning streak — was stretched to seven.

“You’d think when you hold Cal without a hit, you’ve got a good chance to beat them,” sighed Lovelace.

Lovelace didn’t get hurt by Rowan’s 3-4 hitters Ben Hampton and Drew Davis, either — holding them to one scratch hit in nine at-bats. But Jimbo Davis, who came in fighting a 3-for-17 skid, rapped out four hits. Bobby Parnell, who had a rough night at third base, atoned with a game-breaking, two-run double that keyed a four-run fourth. Nick Lefko drove in two runs.

Mostly, Rowan little-balled Mocksville starter Andrew Daywalt to death, taking advantage of the leadoff walks he issued in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Rowan kept constant pressure on Mocksville’s defense, running the bases with the aggressiveness of pit bulls. Rowan swiped four bags, executed perfectly on a pair of hit-and-runs (both times Aaron Rimer delivered) and always seized the extra base. Twice, Rowan runners went first-to-third on singles, with the batter continuing on to second when throws went through to third.

“We didn’t score in the first when we had a great chance (Mocksville left runners at second and third) and then Rowan got a lot of runs in a hurry,” said Lovelace. “You look up and all of a sudden they’ve got you 5-0.”

Daywalt held Rowan scoreless until the fourth. But then the always troublesome Mando Field sun descended and Rowan started getting a much better look at the right-hander’s pitches.

His 0-for-1 boxscore won’t show it, but East Rowan jayvee Michael Gegorek, who plays second base for Gantt, was as important as anyone. Gegorek, Rowan’s No. 9 batter, is great at coaxing free passes and keeps that potent lineup turning over. Gegorek’s tiny strike zone generated three more walks Wednesday. And each time Gegorek walks, Hayes and Rimer get to the plate and Rowan has a chance to put a monster inning together.

“I don’t mind batting ninth,” said Gegorek. “I just try to get on and get it back to Cal. Mostly, I’m just excited to be on this team. This is a big step for me.”

Gegorek also helped out Steedley with two big defensive plays. He plucked a bouncing throw from Parnell out of the dirt for a big forceout in the third when it was still anybody’s game. Then he leaped to turn a Charlie Ross liner in the sixth into an inning-ending double play that seemed to siphon all the remaining steam out of the Mocksville club.

“It just came right at me,” said Gegorek. “Then I heard the crowd yelling and knew we had an easy double play.”

And another win. That’s 10 — and counting.

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NOTES:Rowan, 5-1 in league play, returns to action with a first-place battle at Kannapolis (4-1) and ace Zach Ward on Friday. ... Rowan’s averaging better than 11 runs per game. ... Hayes’ hitting streak was almost extended in the ninth when he ripped a ball down the left-field line that was just foul. Hayes did score a run. He’s scored at least once in Rowan’s last 22 games. ... Jimbo Davis irked Lovelace when he violated baseball etiquette with a leadoff bunt in the ninth when Rowan had the contest well in hand. Davis came around on Trosper’s sac fly. ... Ross had three hits for Mocksville.

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com .