The American Legion notebook ...
MT. AIRY — The public address announcer for the Surry Pride introduced Rowan’s hitters in somewhat more formal fashion than they’re accustomed to on Tuesday night.
He used the given names which appear on the official Legion roster, a circumstance that prompted groans from fans, yelps of dismay from parents and grimaces from players.
Catcher Drew Davis became Andrew Davis for the night, while left fielder Jimbo Davis was known as James Davis. Bubba Morris was referred to as Roger Morris (not to be confused with Roger Maris).
The consternation of that trio was minor, however, compared to the plight of three more Rowan players.
The announcer called Rowan’s second baseman “Stephen Gegorek” (he prefers Michael). And at least for a few innings, “Eric Lefko” (he prefers Nick, which certainly has a better baseball ring to it) patrolled center field.
The p.a. man’s last licks came in the seventh when a familiar lefty pitcher was announced as a pinch-hitter for Rowan. “Now batting .... Earl Sides.”
That one drew the wrath of Rowan fans, one of whom proclaimed loudly enough to be heard back in Winston-Salem, “We ain’t go no Earl Sides on this team!”
“Well, darn it, that’s what I’ve got on this paper,” shot back the chagrined announcer.
At any rate, all was forgiven after Rowan’s easy 17-6 victory.
Well, almost everything.
Surry had better hope it doesn’t face Julian Sides in the playoffs. “Earl” may want to exact a little revenge for the Surry name game.
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NO BIG DEAL:It’s better than 75 miles to Surry County’s homefield at Mt. Airy High, but Rowan coach Jim Gantt grinned at the suggestion that it was a long, long way from home.
“This isn’t far at all,” said Gantt. “It’s right down the road.”
Of course, Gantt’s Catawba College troops bus everywhere from Carson-Newman to Tusculum to Florida. Now, those are serious road trips.
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A REALLY BIG DEAL:When South Rowan High’s Greg Deal made the all-county baseball team this spring, he was carrying on a family tradition.
Deal’s dad, Donnie, made the all-county squad in 1971. Greg’s older brother, Kevin, made the team in 1996.
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TWO’S COMPANY:What do you do when you’ve got two excellent second basemen?
If you’re South Legion coach Allen Wilson you make one of them your third baseman.
Wilson has played Deal at third most of the season— that’s his brother’s old position — while East Rowan’s Justin Miller has played second.
Wilson’s gotten offensive and defensive production out of both spots. Miller, who batted around .100 during the high school season in limited at-bats, has been a major surprise on offense. He’s gotten on base in half his at-bats and even stroked two doubles in a recent game against Lexington.
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TRIVIAL PURSUITS:Answering baseball trivia questions for prizes at Legion games has become as much a part of a night at the ballpark as peanuts, hot dogs and the national anthem.
Questions range from easy — “Who holds the one-season record for most steals by an infielder?” (Everyone over 40 remembers Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills’ 104 in ‘62) — to obscure — “Name the last N.L. batting champion who didn’t play for the Rockies or Padres.” (Believe it or not, it was Atlanta’s Terry Pendleton in 1991. A Statesville Legion assistant actually got that one after a quick search through the record book).
Prizes for correct answers range from sports books (the kind you read, not the kind you place bets with) at Rowan games to vintage baseball cards at Mocksville games.
Questions at Newman Park usually send youngsters racing like lemmings up the steps to the pressbox with their potential answers, while at Rich Park, you dump your answer in a box next to the public address guy.
The question that created the greatest amount of interest so far this summer was the query at Mocksville the other night: “In what year did Babe Ruth die?”
South Rowan parent Donnie Deal got that one (it was 1948) and insisted it wasn’t a guess. His prize was a 1954 Bowman baseball card of Enos “Country” Slaughter, the Hall of Famer from Roxboro. That card would have cost Deal nearly as much as an aluminum bat if he’d visited some card shops.
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ROUGH NIGHT:After South Rowan’s recent visit to Newman Park, South scorekeeper Chris Hughes must have felt like he’d gone five rounds with Laila Ali. Hughes took a flying bat off his wrist, then took a smashed foul ball off his leg.
Hughes hung in there and didn’t miss a pitch.
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HURTING:South has struggled to log four wins this season, but it’s hard to say what might have happened had county player of the year Jared Barnette not torn an ACL and been lost for the summer. Barnette may well have doubled that win total.
Still, Wilson refuses to use the loss of his best arm and one of his better bats as an excuse.
“Without Jared, we don’t have any superstars,” he said. “But, hey, neither do the Minnesota Twins and they’re still winning ballgames.”
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THE WORD ON WARD:Kannapolis star Zach Ward threw only two innings in his team’s ugly 15-0 loss to Rowan, but was on the hill long enough to impress North Rowan High star Aaron Rimer.
Rimer didn’t face Ward during the high school season, unlike his East Rowan and West Rowan teammates who got a steady dose of the Wonder right-hander.
“All of them told me Ward’s in the same league as (Concord Legion star) Brian York,” said Rimer. “I think they’re right. He threw really hard.”
Ward bounced back from his short night against Rowan with an overpowering effort at Mooresville two nights later. In that one, he walked six and beaned six, but carried a one-hitter into the ninth inning.
And East and West hitters may as well get ready for Ward again next spring. He’s a rising senior.
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ROUGH START:South’s recent loss at Mocksville started rolling downhill in a hurry. Ronnie Shore opened the game with a grounder to first, which was booted around by Mocksville’s Dave Poplin.
But Shore was still out, because he took a header as he raced down the first base line.
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MISSING PERSON:South’s Aaron Safrit drove in four of his team’s six runs in a win over Troy, but missed the next two games while he was attending college orientation at UNC Wilmington.
Nick Mayle filled in at first base.
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NOT BAD:Everyone heard a thousand times during the high school season about how good the pitching was in the South Piedmont Conference this season.
But, you know something, it really was. The recent major league draft proved it, when both Central Cabarrus High’s Thomas Wilson and Harding High’s Brian Ennis were selected.
And then there was Ward and York and Barnette and Sides and so on.
East and West players are definitely facing lesser pitching night in and night out in Legion ball than they saw in high school.
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NEW DO:Rowan’s Rimer and Brandon Doby got some mention for their new, clean-shaven look in recent days, but it should also be noted that shortstop Cal Hayes Jr. now has his hair cropped a lot closer.
“The boy looks good in church now,” grinned Junior’s dad, who’s known to the world as “Big Cal.”
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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