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MOUNTULLA— West Rowan hopes to give South Point a “Ruff” go of things in tonight’s second-round game in the state 3A baseball playoffs.
West senior right-hander Cory Ruff is the likely starting hurler for coach Chris Cauble in a 7 p.m. clash at the West field. Ruff has pitched considerably better than his 0-3 record would indicate and if the law of averages means anything, he’s ready for a breakthrough at just the right time,
West’s ace, Jared Barnette (8-4), carried the Falcons (16-10) to this point with a powerful performance with both his arm and bat in Tuesday’s 3-1 first-round win at Asheboro. Barnette might be available tonight in a closing situation.
The Falcons’ No. 2 hurler most of the season, right-hander John Brooks, was not sharp in two recent starts (against East Rowan in the SPC tourney semifinals and against A.L. Brown late in the regular season), which explains why Ruff could get the first call tonight. South Point players and coach Mickey Lineberger are certainly anticipating seeing Ruff, who is not overpowering (22 Ks in 31 innings), but is effective because of his unusual release point and good movement. If Ruff is on, West’s infielders should stay beaver-busy handling a steady stream of grounders.
South Point (21-7) is a tough matchup for Ruff — or any right-handed pitcher — because it has an unusual amount of lefty lumber. In a 4-3 first-round win at East Rowan on Tuesday, Lineberger, who’s in his 19th year at the helm of the Red Raiders, trotted out a lineup that marched to the cadence of left-right-left-right-left-right-left-right.
The first seven guys in the lineup hit the ball with authority against the Mustangs. Lefty hitters Devon Lowery (who bats third) and B.J. Richmond (fifth) reached via hits or walks in six of their eight at-bats against East’s staff.
South Point’s scariest hitter is righty first baseman Ian Gibson, the cleanup man. Gibson launched a grand slam in South Point’s Southwestern Conference tourney semifinal win over East Rutherford and a two-run homer in its win in the tourney finals over Burns. East Rowan kept Gibson in the park Tuesday, but he did have an RBI double to open the scoring as the Raiders shoveled the Mustangs into a quick 3-0 hole.
Gibson, a burly kid who looks like he could twist his bat into a pretzel, is the hottest hitter on a hot team. The Red Raiders haven’t lost in a month since falling to Bessemer City in an Easter Tournament. The win over the Mustangs was their ninth straight.
South Point, No. 2 seed from the Southwestern, should be in solid shape on the hill.
Lowery, a hard-throwing (89 mph) potential pro draft pick, worked into the seventh against East and fired a ton of pitches, so he’ll be limited to duties in center field. But Lineberger still has touted young lefty Matt Teague ready for duty. Teague hasn’t pitched since tossing three innings in the conference tourney finals. Senior third baseman Chris Ensley, who nailed down the final three pressure-packed outs against East with a big curveball, will serve as Lineberger’s ace in the hole.
There were wild 18-0 and 11-1 wipeouts in other 3A playoff games across the state, but pitching has been the name of the game in West’s playoff bracket that matches up teams from the South Piedmont, Southwestern and Tri-County conferences. The scores from the first round were 4-3; 4-3; 4-2; and 3-1. Obviously, those are the kind of games, West, No. 3 seed out of the SPC, has played all season, so the Falcons should be mentally tough enough to compete in what could be another tense, low-scoring battle.
The SPC and Southwestern squads went 2-1 in the first round, while both Tri-County representatives were eliminated.
Tonight’s other matchup in a beefed-up bracket sees Central Cabarrus traveling to Lawndale to play Burns in a battle of the South Piedmont and Southwestern regular-season champions.
The winner of West-South Point will hit the road next Tuesday against the Burns-Central survivor.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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