Newman Park was the site of yet another American Legion baseball blowout on Monday night.
One slight difference in standard operating procedure, though. This time it was Rowan County’s turn to get creamed.
Rowan came in flat and was flattened by Kannapolis 12-2. Hard to believe as it may be, this was the same Kannapolis bunch that Rowan buried alive —15-0 — just 72 hours earlier.
“Maybe we needed this,” said Rowan coach Jim Gantt. “We’d been getting away with a lot of mistakes, because we’d been scoring so many runs. But sooner or later not backing people up and not being in the right place catches up to you.”
Kannapolis (6-6, 6-3) was shorthanded, but still made short work of Rowan (13-2, 8-2), battering the locals in seven innings via the 10-run rule. It was the first time Rowan had been on the wrong end of the mercy rule in 86 outings. Last time it happened was the 16-6 thumping that Lexington dished out at Newman in 1999.
Kannapolis was missing hard-hitting center fielder Chris Florence, who reportedly broke his hand when he punched a wall in frustration after Kannapolis’ unbelievable 4-3 loss to Mooresville on Sunday. Also absent were Justin Bonds, a key pitcher, and slugger Thumper Williams. The latter two reportedly didn’t get back from the beach at their appointed hour.
Still, if you’ve got nine guys in uniform you can play and Kannapolis coach Joe Hubbard certainly had nine that were interested in doing just that.
Hubbard had blasted his troops after Friday’s debacle against Rowan at Veterans Field. He told them they had been going through the motions and it was time to put up or shut up.
“I just told them win or lose, they had to play with some intensity and leave it on the field,” explained Hubbard. “Our last three games (a win at Concord, the late loss to Mooresville and last night’s game) we’ve hit the ball and we’ve played very hard.”
But simply playing hard and stopping a Rowan team that had won 10 straight games and was running roughshod over the division are two different animals.
“I told the guys we needed a hero,” Hubbard said. “Someone had to step up and do it and not just depend on the next guy behind him to get it done.”
Hubbard didn’t find just one volunteer. If they handed out medals for baseball heroics, Kannapolis would have had at least five recipients.
Right-hander Jonathan Goodman, who usually plays shortstop or hurls non-league games, threw eight great innings. He didn’t allow an earned run. Zeke Gurley, cousin of West Rowan basketball coach, Mike Gurley, delivered a two-run homer and a two-run double. Andrew Petty, who’s up and down, played the game of his life at shortstop and drilled a two-run double. Catcher Craig Waller had two run-scoring hits and was outstanding defensively.
And finally there was right fielder Matt Harris, a transplanted second baseman. Harris produced the biggest moment of the game when he shot down Cal Hayes Jr. at the plate to end the fifth inning when the speedy Rowan leadoff man tried to score from second on Drew Davis’ sharp single.
“Matt threw out the fastest guy in Rowan County,” said Hubbard.
“I got a perfect hop and threw it as hard as I could,” said Harris. “Cal’s a great ball player, so it was an honor to throw him out.”
Harris’ heave home beat a surprised Hayes by plenty, so he had no choice but to crash into Waller and try to dislodge the ball. But Waller held on. And after that play, everyone in the park knew Kannapolis would hold on, too.
“When you get a third out at the plate, it’s just real, real big momentum-wise,” sighed Gantt.
Goodman and Rowan left-hander Spencer Steedley who came in 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA, matched zeroes for three innings. But in the fourth, two walks got Steedley in trouble. Gurley drilled a double to left to score two. A dropped pop in short right extended the inning and Waller’s clutch double handed Goodman a 4-0 lead.
“I was kinda skeptical when the game started,” said Goodman. “But then we scored first. After that, I just had to throw strikes and let the defense help me out.”
Goodman conducted a pitching clinic. He got his curve over. He got ahead of every hitter. He fired every pitch at the knees. And his defense, anchored by a wide-ranging Petty, was sensational, turning 15 ground balls into outs.
Rowan’s only breakthrough was Cory Ruff’s two-out, two-run double in the fourth that briefly gave Rowan supporters hope. But Gurley swiftly answered Ruff’s rap with a bullet of a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 6-2.
“I just got the pitches to hit tonight,” said Gurley. “It was nice to show everyone what this team can do if it’s hyped up.”
Harris’ big play kept Kannapolis in charge and then Rowan unraveled defensively in the eighth as Kannapolis scored six times to turn a tense struggle into a stampede toward the exits.
“It feels great,” said Goodman. “We beat them almost as bad as they beat us.”
Gantt, who had warned his team to expect a different Kannapolis squad this time around, was subdued, but not nearly as surprised as the crowd.
“Kannapolis has good coaches and competitive kids,” he said. “I had told our guys they’d bounce back twice as hungry as they were before.”
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