Mooresville had lost six straight American Legion baseball games to Rowan County, but Whitey Meadows’ team had the upper hand with an 8-6 win at Newman Park on Wednesday night.

“Gosh,I don’t remember. It’s been too long,” said Meadows, Mooresville’s veteran coach, when asked when was the last time his team had defeated Rowan.

Pitcher-third baseman Chris Mills, however, did remember. He went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in Mooresville’s 9-2 victory at Newman Park early in the 1999 season. Rowan had won the last six times, including three playoff games last year.

“It’s a good win to come here and win,” said Mills. “Rowan is one of the No. 1 teams in the conference. We knew they were 3-0. We just wanted to come out here and play a pretty good game.”

The loss was the first of the season for Rowan after three lopsided victories. Rowan is 1-1 in league play.

“You score a bunch of runs like we have in the previous games and it covers up a lot of weaknesses,” said Rowan first-year head coach Jim Gantt, whose team had outscored the opposition 44-14 before Wednesday’s game.

Mills was a big factor last night, getting a save by pitching the final 2 1/3 innings. He struggled with his control in the eighth, but finished strong, retiring the final two Rowan batters with the bases loaded in the ninth. He also belted a two-run homer in the third inning and scored twice.

“He’s our ace pitcher. ... It was a real big game for him to come in and save it,” said Meadows, whose team had a 7-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings. “They always battle back down here. They never give up. That’s what I tell the kids, ‘Get some more runs. These guys are not going to give up.’”

Rowan scored a run in the sixth off left-handed starter Brent Frye when Cory Ruff singled in a run, then cut the deficit to 7-4 when Drew Davis drove in another run with a heat in the seventh.

That’s when Meadows moved Mills from third base to the mound. The right-hander struck out Rowan clean-up hitter Jimbo Davis with runners at first and third and two outs.

Rowan got two runs off Mills in the eighth, when he hit two batters with pitches, walked another and gave up run-scoring singles to pinch-hitter Ben Hampton and Cal Hayes Jr. That made it 7-6.

Michael McClain gave Mooresville and insurance run in the ninth when he belted a long homer off the scoreboard in left-center.

Rowan then threatened in the ninth, when Drew Davis led off with a single.One out later, Spencer Steedley singled. When Ruff reached base on an error, the bases were loaded.

Mills, who graduates from South Iredell High School on Friday, finished off Rowan by striking out Nick Lefko and getting Shawn Trosper on an infield out.

“You’ve got to get out in front of this team, or you’re going to be down,” said Mills, who thinks Mooresville (4-2 overall, 1-1 in the league) is headed for a good season.

“We have great talent. We lost a few good hitters last year, but this year people are stepping up. Sophomores and juniors are stepping up,” he said.

Meadows said the home runs by Mills and McClain were no flukes.

“We feel like these kids — along with (Michael) Sandlin — can hit the long ball, and we have a few others that can hit the long ball,” said Meadows.

Mills (3-for-5) and Josh Haire (2-for-5) led Mooresville’s 10-hit attack.

Drew Davis (2-for-3) was the only Rowan player with more than one hit, while Jimbo Davis hit his first homer of the season.

“They (Mooresville) played well tonight,” said Rowan’s Gantt. “The team that played the best won. We didn’t play catch. We’ve got to throw the ball 75 feet and 120 feet, and we don’t do it. ... We couldn’t stop them from scoring there early. We gave them a run here or a run there. We just didn’t play well.”

Four Rowan throwing errors led to four unearned Mooresville runs.

Gantt started right-hander Brandon Doby (1-1), who was the loser after working the first four innings and allowed seven hits, six runs (three earned) and one walk while striking out three batters. Left-handers Julian Sides and Steedley and right-hander Phillip Goodman all pitched in relief.

Doby, Sides, Steedley and Goodman are Rowan’s four starters, but Gantt doesn’t expect to use either of them much in the next two contests — non-league home games with Burlington at 7:15 p.m. today and Eastern Randolph on Sunday night. The Eastern Randolph game was postponed by rain on Monday and rescheduled.

“We’ll have to look at some younger guys tomorrow and Sunday,” said Gantt.