STATESVILLE — For once, no rain and no strain.
The top-seeded Rowan County American Legion team completed a first-round playoff sweep of No. 8 Statesville Tuesday night with a 19-2 road romp stopped after eight innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
After batting 4-for-4 in its series with Statesville, Rowan will take some time off while fifth-seeded Mocksville and fourth-seeded Stanly County finish duking out their high-scoring series. Rowan’s second-round action won’t get under way until Monday. The opener will be at Newman Park.
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance last night, but Rowan fans — all of them lugged along umbrellas this time — stayed dry, while their team stayed hot. Rowan (24-2) obviously got a little cranky when it lost 12-2 at Newman Park to Kannapolis a few weeks back. Since then it’s cranked out 11 straight wins. And it still hasn’t tasted defeat on the road.
“I don’t think anyone’s gonna beat that team in a series— not in Area III,” predicted Statesville coach Donnell Poole. “If Rowan’s pitching holds up, their hitting and defense are gonna keep them playing for a long, long time.”
Rowan’s pitching held up nicely this time. Right-hander Phillip Goodman, down with a strained calf muscle not long ago, was throwing as hard as anyone could recall.
“That’s the same thing that (teammate) Drew (Davis) told me,” said Goodman, who used to have a rep as a knuckleballer. “But I don’t know why. I’m not doing anything different.”
The bespectacled Goodman worked seven innings, scattered eight hits and fanned seven. Statesville scored once on a solid single by Michael Gilbert, once on an error. Justin Wolfe scored both Statesville runs.
“Phillip threw well and his fastball was very good,” said Rowan coach Jim Gantt. “The big thing is he can throw a lot of different pitches for strikes and hitters can’t just sit on his fastball.”
Statesville pitcher Steven Hancock battled and kept things interesting as long as he could. Rowan led by a respectable 8-2 when Hancock was done after six . Then, as they did all series, Rowan hitters feasted on the Statesville bullpen.
“Once a starter’s pitch count gets up there and a team has to go deep to its bullpen, this team is confident it can score a lot of runs,” said Gantt.
If a popularity poll had been conducted among Rowan fans after last night’s game the winners by a landslide would have been Nick Lefko and Jimbo Davis. Lefko’s three-run triple assured the game would end after eight. Jimbo, meanwhile, mercifully skied to the infield for the last out in Rowan’s eight-run eighth when it was beginning to look as if Statesville might never escape the inning. Rowan sent 13 batters to the plate in that grueling frame, accepting six walks.
But one brutal inning shouldn’t take away from what Statesville accomplished in this series. Despite being outscored 58-12, Poole’s team scared Rowan in the first two games before running out of gas — and arms.
“Statesville really did surprise us at the start of this series,” said Goodman. “They caught us off guard. But then we picked it up — got it going.”
“I think we might have had the big heads coming into the playoffs,” said Rowan catcher Ben Hampton, who tied Jimbo Davis for the team homer lead (5), when he knocked one out in the fifth inning. “But then we got focused and started hitting the ball and Statesville kinda died.”
Hampton has been diagnosed with torn cartilage in his knee, but doctors have assured him the injury’s going to heal with time and Gantt’s pleased as punch to have his lethal left-handed bat available. Expect the big guy’s role — and homer total — to grow as the playoffs progress.
“I’m just happy to be playing and helping out where I can,” said Hampton. “I was in a big slump for awhile, but I’ve worked hard at hitting the ball to the opposite field to get out of it.”
The first big blow of the game was struck by Rowan’s 15-year-old first baseman Spencer Steedley, who’s too young to drive cars, but can certainly drive baseballs. Steedley boomed a second-inning homer to right and gave Rowan, not known as a longball-hitting team, it’s sixth roundtripper in two games. It was 4-0 before the second inning ended, as Bobby Parnell, Michael Gegorek and Cal Hayes Jr. drove in runs.
Rowan piled up 14 hits — half of them for extra bases — but the one that actually broke the game wide open was one by Parnell that traveled roughly 30 feet in the fourth inning.
Hampton had doubled and Lefko had walked to start the inning. Parnell then tried to get a sacrifice down, but his bunt briefly hung in the air. Hancock made a dive for it, but the ball caromed off his chest. Alert catcher Austin Hill pounced on the ball, but his hurried throw sailed past first and down the right-field line. When the dust settled on Statesville’s well-manicured field, Hampton and Lefko had motored around the bases and Parnell was hugging third. Hayes promptly singled in Parnell for a 7-1 lead and there was no longer any question Rowan would complete the sweep.
“What really worries you is 17 of 18 Rowan guys are back next year,” sighed Poole. “I might have to go out and recruit the Yankees if I’m going to compete with ’em.”
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