CONCORD— Jimbo Davis’ back might be sore an extra day or two, but he’ll gladly accept the pain.

Davis slammed a two-run homer deep into the concrete bleachers Saturday night at Webb Field to lift the Rowan County American Legion baseball team to a thrilling 13-11 victory over Concord. His blast put the finishing touches on a see-saw affair that saw Rowan jump out to a 10-5 lead, then trail 11-10 heading into the top of the ninth inning.

After Spencer Steedley led off the ninth with a bloop single, Davis connected on a first-pitch fastball from Joe Hollopeter, then flipped his bat aside as the ball embarked on a no-doubt-about-it arc. His grin widened as he rounded third base — shortly before he ducked for cover crossing the plate as teammates landed countless congratulatory blows to his back.

“My back got sunburned mowing the lawn,”Davis said, “and they show no mercy on a home run.”

Davis just missed a home run off Hollopeter in the fifth inning when his high drive glanced off the wall for a double. After Steedley’s bloop to open the frame, he thought sure Concord head coach would relieve with ace Brian York.

But Hollopeter stayed on.

“I was surprised he didn’t put York in earlier. I felt a little relieved,”Davis said. “I had already hit this guy off the wall, and the first fastball I saw, I drove.”

York did enter after Rowan catcher Ben Hampton drew a walk, but Shawn Trosper sent a ringing single to right field to score the insurance run anyway.

Rowan, which improved to 16-2 overall and 10-2 in the Area III Southern Division, looked to need all the runs it could muster. Leads of 2-1, 3-2 and finally 10-5 all evaporated as Concord (7-10, 4-8) kept up the attack.

After pulling out a 13-12 victory at Mooresville on Friday night, Rowan’s offense stayed strong. Ninth-hitter Michael Gegorek drove home Nick Lefko and Hampton in the second inning with a key two-out single. Cal Hayes Jr. manufactured the first of his three runs in the third when he beat out an infield bouncer, advanced to third on wild pitches and scored on Steedley’s groundout.

Lefko scored in the fourth on a wild pitch and Hayes scored on another groundout after stealing two bases in the fifth. That merely knotted the game at 5-5, though, as Concord kept pecking away at Rowan starter Brandon Doby.

Centerfielder Todd Greene launched a leadoff homer in the first and scored on Brian York’s double in the third. Greene continued doing damage in the fourth, when his single pulled Concord within 4-3. Brandon White followed with a two-run double to put Rowan behind.

But everything appeared to change in Rowan’s half of the sixth inning. Concord gave away an extra out when Gegorek struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt and made it safely to first.

Hampton scored on the wild pitch, Hayes bounced a chopper through the right side of the infield and Aaron Rimer smacked a high hopper over third base for an 8-5 advantage.

Steedley, a lefty, then sat on a first-pitch fastball and drilled it over the 329-foot sign in left-center for a 10-5 margin.

Did Rowan think Concord was done rallying?

“Honestly, yes,”Davis answered. “Doby’s got the win, the game’s wrapped up. Then they made that comeback and it really surprised me.”

Concord answered in the bottom half. Doby loaded the bases, allowing a hit and plunking two others. White, also looking first-pitch fastball, slammed a double to left that cleared the bases and chased Doby.

Daniel Cauble, who got the win at Mooresville, fell victim to an error that made it 10-9 and two more Concord hits that had the home fans screaming about an 11-10 lead.

“At first I wasn’t throwing enough offspeed,”Cauble said. “My changeup kept them off balance. Brandon’s a lot harder thrower than I am.”

Amazingly, Hollopeter returned after the disastrous sixth and retired six in a row. Cauble likewise settled down, allowing a bloop single over the seventh and eighth innings, setting the stage for the ninth-inning heroics.

“Nothing fazes them,”Rowan head coach Jim Gantt said of his team. “That’s the thing about baseball. You can score runs and get up, but you’ve got to go back out there, throw the ball over the plate and give them a chance.”

Following Davis’ blast, Cauble walked Chris Taylor to lead off the bottom half. Gantt then called on Steedley, who didn’t fare well in his Friday outing.

But after allowing a walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, he got Greene to fly out to Lefko in center to end it.

“Last night (Friday), the difference was that we made the plays defensively, and tonight we were in the mess we were in because we didn’t,”Gantt said. “Steedley didn’t do the job for us last night, tonight he did. It can go full circle in a hurry.”

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NOTES: Corey Ruff set up two Rowan rallies with sacrifice bunts. … After stealing 13 bases last game against Concord, Rowan swiped six Saturday. … Rowan travels to King tonight for a non-league contest, welcomes Mocksville-Davie on Monday for a makeup game and travels to Stanly on Tuesday to close the league slate.

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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com .