MT. AIRY — Speed kills and Hayes slays.
Cal Hayes Jr. was playing 80 miles or so from Newman Park on Tuesday night, but had no trouble at all finding his way home.
Hayes hurried across home plate four times, as Rowan County’s American Legion baseball team eased the sting of Monday’s ugly loss to Kannapolis with a feel-good 17-6 thrashing of the Surry County Pride. The non-league road romp was cut short after seven innings thanks to the 10-run mercy rule.
“We didn’t play good against Kannapolis, so we had to come back tonight and redeem ourselves some,” said Hayes.
It was certainly a step in the right direction, although Rowan was far from perfect. It stranded seven, committed three errors, lost two runners on the bases and handed Surry two gift-wrapped runs in the first inning.
Hayes, however, was perfect. Rowan’s veteran shortstop/leadoff man was flawless in the field and his only out in five trips to the plate came on a well-stroked sacrifice fly to deep right.
Hayes was hit by a pitch to start the game and was standing at second with a steal on the very next pitch to No. 2 batter Aaron Rimer. That showed Surry that Rowan (14-2) had come to play aggressive baseball and to start a brand new winning streak. Hayes wound up scoring the game’s first run on Spencer Steedley’s groundout.
In the second, Hayes hit a seed past second, stole another base and scored again. He lofted his sac fly in the fifth and walked and scored once more in the seventh.
And in the third, the compactly built Mustang startled everyone with a mammoth homer to left field, casually flipping his bat past the catcher’s ear, the instant the no-doubt-about-it blast lifted off.
“He hung me a curve and I stayed back the way I’m supposed to do,” said Hayes. “I finally hit one just right.”
“Cal usually hits line drives and hard ground balls,” said Rowan coach Jim Gantt. “But he hit that ball as well as he can hit it. He was right on it.”
Hayes hadn’t scored at all in Rowan’s previous two games, which wouldn’t be front-page news if it were anyone but him.
“It’s my job to get on and score runs,” he said. “I’ve been in kind of a slump. I want to get on, because when I do, it seems like things go well for everybody else.”
“That,” said Gantt, “is because when Cal gets on, it puts so much pressure on the defense.”
It was the first time this season that Hayes had scored four times in a game. Believe it or not, first baseman Shawn Trosper, who won’t be confused with Lou Brock on the basepaths, enjoyed Rowan’s only other four-run effort in that memorable 19-14 slugfest with Eastern Randolph. Hayes’ personal record came when he scored five times early last season against Mocksville on his way to an astounding 71-run summer.
The biggest positive for Rowan besides its catalyst waking up from his brief cat-nap was young left-hander Jacob Cooper. The East jayvee worked five good innings for his first Legion win, allowing six hits, two walks and only two earned runs.
“To be so young and to have just a little experience, I thought he did a great job,” praised Hayes.
“We’d planned to maybe throw five or six pitchers tonight,” said Gantt. “But Cooper did such a good job that I guess we’ll have to wait and throw those other kids on Thursday (against the Carolina Hurricanes AAU team).”
Cooper’s best moment came when he escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth with Rowan’s lead at 10-4.
Another kid left-hander, Tyler Morgan, worked a strong sixth, before Gantt turned things over to Bobby Parnell for the seventh. Parnell, who throws very hard but battles the strike zone, had a tough inning, allowing four hits and two runs. But the rangy right-hander also showed his vast potential by striking out the side. Parnell got the last out of the seventh with the bases full, which endeared him to dozens of Rowan fans, who were anxious to get started for home.
“Bobby’s got the arm and a great body. He has the chance to become a good pitcher,” said Gantt. “Whether he figures it all out and does it, well, that’s pretty much up to him.”
All the Rowan pitchers benefited from some sturdy defense. Nick Lefko left his feet to make a sprawling catch of a liner to center in the sixth and third baseman Cory Ruff made a diving stop followed by an accurate throw in the second.
Offensively, just about everyone got in their licks. Joining Hayes with two hits were Rimer, Drew Davis, Lefko, Trosper and Michael Gegorek. Lefko scored three times, while the Davises — Drew and Jimbo — combined for five RBIs. Jimbo banged a two-run single up the middle in the second, while Drew followed a booming seventh-inning double by Rimer with a sharp, two-run double to the opposite field.
All in all, it was a decent effort that should place the Kannapolis game well in the rearview mirror.
“We’ve moved past Kannapolis now,” said Gantt. “We’ve let it go and moved on. This is baseball and that’s what you’ve got to do. There’s always another ballgame tomorrow.”
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NOTES: Rowan travels to Stanly tonight for a key league contest. Gantt’s likely starter is right-hander Brandon Doby, who threw a brilliant one-hitter in his last outing.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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