Fortunately for Rowan County’s American Legion baseball team, Tyler Morgan and Daniel Cauble still refuse to act their age.
Jayvee pitchers, Morgan, an East left-hander, and Cauble, a West right-hander, got the key outs as Rowan beat Statesville 14-4 for its 10th straight win on Sunday. Neither young hurler showed any hint of nervousness, despite pitching in front of a huge Newman Park crowd, rather than the handful that normally attend jayvee contests.
Morgan entered the fray in the fourth inning after Rowan starter Phillip Goodman strained a calf muscle. He got the final two outs to finally end a potentially disastrous frame in which Statesville scored all four of its runs.
Cauble relieved Morgan in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs and kept Statesville (3-14, 2-8) from getting back in the game with a strikeout of leadoff man Steven Hancock.
“That’s about the third time Cauble’s done that for us,” said Rowan coach Jim Gantt. “He throws strikes. Even more impressive is how he handles himself out there. He’s a very mature 15-year-old.”
Rowan (13-1, 8-1) continued an overpowering streak that has seen it crush its last five foes by a combined 58-6. Rowan’s overwhelmed seven divisional opponents 79-14 since a surprising early-season loss to Mooresville.
Rowan’s won its last six league games by eight runs or more. Still, Gantt isn’t gloating. In this business, you’re only as good as your next game.
“We’ve been getting big hits while our opponents haven’t,” Gantt shrugged. “We’ve caught some good teams at the right time. It’s just been going our way.”
While Rowan’s run continued Sunday, leadoff man Cal Hayes Jr.’s remarkable run of scoring runs didn’t. Hayes, who had scored at least once in 24 consecutive contests, didn’t cross home plate, although he did drive in three runs. Hayes scored 46 runs (nearly two per game) during his remarkable stretch. The last time Hayes didn’t score was also the last time Rowan was shut out — in a 2000 Area III semifinal by Concord’s Thomas Wilson, a recent L.A. Dodger draft pick.
Hayes, who ended the game in the last of the eighth when his line single gave Rowan a 10-run lead, was one of six locals to post a multi-hit game.
Nick Lefko and Shawn Trosper had three hits each to spearhead a 16-hit assault, as Rowan scored in double digits for the ninth time. Hayes, Spencer
Steedley, Bobby Parnell and Jimbo Davis had two hits apiece. Michael Gegorek muscled up to smoke a two-run double, while Drew Davis scored twice. The only regular without a hit was Aaron
Rimer, who’s been the hottest guy of all of late. Rimer did score a run.
The consensus star of the game was the quiet first baseman Trosper, who, as usual, did all the little things on his way to a perfect 3-3-3-3
boxscore. Gantt has other first base options in Ben Hampton, who has more power, and Julian Sides, a lefty with a slick glove, but Gantt keeps penciling Trosper’s name on the lineup card.
“Trosper’s a quality player, a productive player,” said Gantt. “He’s smart, too. We must have missed 15 signs the last two days, but he’s one guy who didn’t miss one. That sort of keeps you in the lineup.”
Trosper was in the middle of five scoring innings. He was hit by a pitch and scored in the second; laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to key a three-run third; singled in a run in the fifth; singled and scored in the seventh; and singled in a pair in the eighth.
Trosper survived a grinding collision with Statesville catcher Austin Hill the first time he scored.
“(West Rowan High football coach Scott) Young always wanted me to play some football,” grinned
Trosper. “I thought about it, but then I thought about my speed.”
Trosper may not have wheels, but he does have peace of mind, after playing mostly a reserve role on the 2000 squad.
“It’s my last year and I just wanted to come out here, relax and enjoy it,” he said. “We’re having fun. It’s a lot of fun when you’re winning and we expect to win every day.”
Today's News
