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MOORESVILLE— Not long ago, most of the world had no idea a kid named Daniel Cauble good pitch.
Until Friday night, absolutely no one knew Cauble could hit.
Well — except Cauble.
On a storybook night in a donnybrook of a game, Cauble singled in Cal Hayes Jr. in the top of the ninth to give Rowan County’s American Legion baseball team a 13-12 lead over Mooresville. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Cauble, a West Rowan jayvee who is 3-0 with two saves, made that slim run stand up by getting the last three outs on the mound.
Cauble’s teammates weren’t just surprised to see him get the game-winning hit — they were shocked.
Not only hadn’t Cauble batted in a game all summer, a smiling Rowan coach Jim Gantt confirmed that the kid, whom no one ever dreamed would ever be in that sort of situation, is not even on the list to take batting practice.
Gantt was contemplating giving Cauble the bunt sign when he served the ball cleanly to right field.
“I’m sure my teammates were pretty close to fainting when I got that hit,” said Cauble, a tall 15-year-old. “But when I pitch in high school, I do hit for myself. I just went up there, saw the ball good and swung hard.”
Gantt said the key to Cauble’s hit — and thus the game — was that Hayes, who had doubled, was the runner at second.
“Mooresville didn’t want Hayes to steal third, so the second baseman (Justin Graham) was shaded over to the bag, trying to hold him close,” he explained. “Then Daniel gets a fastball on the first pitch, and bam, it goes right through that hole.”
It was a shame either team had to lose this one.
Rowan (15-2, 9-2) came to town vowing revenge for the 8-6 setback Mooresville hung on them at Newman Park early this season.
“When we took the field, Coach Gantt said, ‘It’s payback time,’ offered Hayes.
It was — but barely. Mooresville (13-9, 8-4) didn’t exactly back down, raking two quality pitchers, Julian Sides and Spencer Steedley, for 16 hits, including Michael Sandlin’s two-run homer. Graham (who plays at West Rowan ) chalked up four RBIs.
Mooresville might have had 20-plus hits had Hayes, center fielder Nick Lefko and third baseman Cory Ruff not made fine plays.
“Rowan’s defense was the difference in the game,” said Graham. “They made unbelievable plays.”
The most unbelievable was a diving stab by Lefko of a Graham drive in the fifth with two out and two on.
Rowan led by as many as six runs (11-5), but Mooresville kept lifting its shoulders off the mat by hitting line drives.
“It amazed me how hard we hit Sides and Steedley,” said Graham, who knows the East Rowan lefties quite well.
Mooresville finally drew even when it knocked out Steedley in the eighth and pinch-hitter Tim Fitzpatrick greeted Cauble with the clutch single that made it 12-all.
Rowan bombed away in the early going, taking a 3-2 lead in the third on Aaron Rimer’s fourth homer. Hayes had three hits and scored four times. Michael Gegorek contributed three hits and two RBIs.
The rest of the Rowan damage was done by Steedley, who was having a dream night until he took the hill. Steedley hit the ball on the nose five straight times, good four four base hits and five RBIs.
Sides somehow fought his way into the seventh and Steedley was supposed to finish.
When that didn’t work out, Gantt pinned his hopes on Cauble.
“We were going to win it or lose it with Daniel,” he said.
Turns out, he won it.
The key to Cauble surviving the ninth was getting the first hitter, slugger Michael McClain, on a pop foul that catcher Ben Hampton chased down.
“I started to go after it,” grinned Cauble. “But then I decided to let a seasoned veteran take over.”
“It was just a great ballgame,” said Mooresville coach Whitey Meadows. “We wanted it bad, but maybe they wanted it even more. Now we’ll need some help to catch them.”
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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