It was a different Brandon Doby on the mound last night as Rowan County’s American Legion baseball team rolled past Surry County.
Doby hurled two-hit ball for five innings and fanned nine batters as Rowan (2-0) downed the visitors 13-3 in a non-league game at Newman Park.
“I threw a lot better tonight,” said Doby, a right-hander who was 4-5 for North Rowan in the recently completed high school season. “I was ready to come out here and try to get some revenge for my high school season.I was kind of disappointed.”
Doby, who was 4-1 for Rowan’s state runners-up last Legion season, credited new head coach Jim Gantt with changing his mechanics.
“It’s a bunch of small, mechanical things that coach Gantt’s worked with me, just since we’ve been out here in a short period of time,” he said.
“He’s helped me out a lot. Little things make big differences. It’s amazing what those little things can do,” said Doby, who struck out the side in the third inning and was in trouble in only one inning, the second.
“I felt a lot more comfortable and smooth out there tonight than I did in high school,” Doby said. “I wasn’t worried when the ball was hit in play. We’ve got a great defensive team out here, probably the best in the state.”
Rowan gave Doby an 4-0 lead in the first inning, then he gave up an earned run in the second, when he walked two batters and gave up a hit.
Gantt paid a visit to the mound during that inning.
“He said, ‘You’re not going to be a better pitcher if you don’t throw the ball to let them hit it, let the defense make plays.’ He said, ‘You’re trying to do it yourself.’ Basically, from then on I was just throwing strikes,” said the pitcher.
“He pitched good at times,” said Gantt, “and at time he struggled a little bit. I think he just loses focus some. Of course, most of us in baseball, that’s what happens. When you lose focus, you don’t do as well.”
Gantt said Doby’s mechanics had changed a little since last season.
“Sometimes, when you lose it mentally, you start trying to adjust your mechanics. It’s not necessarily poor mechanics,” the coach pointed out.
“He mainly was just rushing a lot, throwing with the front side of his body and his arms just dragging through. He just needs to stay back a little bit more. He’s got great arm strength. When he stays back and allows it to happen, he’s real effective,” Gantt added.
While Doby and relievers Tyler Morgan and Jason Cauble were holding Surry to three hits in Surry’s season opener, Rowan was taking advantage of 13 walks by three Surry hurlers and five errors.
Drew Davis led Rowan at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs batted in. The only other hits were by Nick Lefko and Cory Ruff, who each drove in two runs, and CalHayes Jr.
“It’s hard to hit when you walk that many batters like their pitchers did, and they make five errors. I thought we were patient at times, but I thought we were impatient at times,” said Gantt. “We probably could have walked mor if we didn’t swing at bad pitchers.”
He wasn’t pleased with the team’s inability to hit with runners in scoring position a couple of times, but generally pleased.
“We scored 13 runs. We made some good defensive plays and got some big hits,” he said.
Because the game was called after 6 1/2 innings under the 10-run-lead rule, Gantt didn’t get to use all the pitchers he had planned to throw.
“We were going to throw (Jason) Cooper an inning and Daniel Cauble another inning tonight. We never got around to it,” he said. Daniel Cauble pitched one scoreless inning in Tuesday’s season-opening 16-8 victory over King.
Cooper is one of four left-handers from East Rowan High on the team. The others are starters Julian Sides and Spencer Steedley and reliever Morgan, who struck out two batters and allowed an unearned run in his inning last night.
Rowan will open its league schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday against Stanly County at Newman Park.
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