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ALBEMARLE — The 1-0 American Legion baseball game is a nearly extinct species, but fans witnessed one of those disappearing dinosaurs at Montgomery Park on Wednesday night.
Kannapolis right-hander Andrew “Pud”Petty was outstanding, tossing a complete-game six-hitter in defeat.
Stanly County ace Jason Nichols was better, striking out 17, including Tyson Fink on some high gas with the bases loaded in the ninth to bring an end to the old-fashioned pitcher’s duel.
“Both pitchers were great,” said Stanly coach Buster Thompson. “It’s a shame one of ’em had to lose it.”
Kannapolis coach Joe Hubbard agreed. “It was real frustrating,” he sighed, after his team’s first league loss. “You hate to waste a start like we got from Petty. But their kid threw it good — real good. He beat us in every way you can be beat.”
Twice Kannapolis (3-3, 3-1) threatened Nichols with runners at second and third and no outs. On both occasions, the South Stanly High star kept Hubbard’s bunch off the board.
“We were in situations where we didn’t even need base hits,” said Hubbard. “If we can just put the ball in play somewhere we’re gonna score. But we couldn’t take advantage.”
In fairness to Kannapolis’ hitters, making contact against Nichols is harder than the Grinch’s heart. Nichols is good. He left a trail of low-hit, high-strikeout games in a scorched-earth high school season. The UNC Greensboro signee hadn’t pitched at all in Legion ball since working 11 innings in two 1A state playoff games (he fanned 15 in one of them), but was rested and ready for Kannapolis.
“Nichols would’ve pitched against Rowan the other night,” said Thompson, “but his arm was still a little tender. But people are going to be seeing him a lot.”
Kannapolis has already seen quite enough, thank you.
How good was Nichols? He struck out leadoff man Matt Harris, who rarely fans, twice. He set Kannapolis’ hottest hitter, Wally Tuttle, down three times on strikes and also hung a trio of Ks on cleanup man Zeke Gurley. He fanned every starter except Chris Florence, who managed half of Kannapolis’ four hits.
Petty kept Kannapolis in the hunt with the help of some dynamic defense. Jon Goodman and Harris turned a double play in the third; left fielder Fink made a diving catch in the fifth; third baseman Tuttle made a belly-flopping stop in the sixth; and catcher Craig Waller made a hustling grab in foul ground in the eighth.
Stanly (2-3, 2-1) got its lone marker in the third, prior to the double play. Chris Lisenby walked on a close 3-2 pitch. He moved up on Chad Yow’s single and scored when Miller Morgan singled sharply to center.
Kannapolis had a golden chance in the fifth when Josh McKnight opened with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Fink beat out a bunt and seconds later it was second and third with no outs. But Nichols fanned Waller and Brooks Little. Then McKnight was nailed at the plate for the third out when he tried to score on a ball that trickled past catcher Eric Blalock.
If possible, the Kannapolis ninth was even more exasperating, because Nichols had run the bases hard in the bottom of the eighth, smacking a leg double, then stealing third. His baserunning adventures clearly took something out of him.
“When I slid into third, I hit my chest,” explained Nichols. “Yeah, it affected me some. I had to throw more curveballs in the ninth than I had the rest of the game combined.”
Pinch-hitter Thumper Williams started the ninth with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Matt Stack. Then Kannapolis caught a break. Florence bunted to the mound and rather than taking the out at first, Nichols tried to get a force at second. His throw sailed into shallow center field and Kannapolis runners motored around the bases. Stack might have been able to score, but with no outs, Nichols weakening and the meat of his lineup coming up, Hubbard played the percentages and halted Stack at third.
That strategy looked good when Nichols fell behind the dangerous Tuttle 3-and-0, not so good after he came back to dispose of the veteran on his next three pitches.
“My teammates say I always try to make things interesting,” smiled Nichols. “But I’m not really trying to.”
Nonetheless, the last three batters were about as interesting as it gets.
Nichols worked to a full count before he struck out Gurley looking for the second out. He walked McKnight to fill the bases, but then took care of Fink on three pitches. He froze him with a wicked curve for strike two, then buzzed a third strike past him helmet-high to wrap things up.
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NOTES:Waller plugged Nichols for a double to open the third for his team’s only extra-base knock. ... Kannapolis will have little time to stew on the tough loss. It hosts its biggest rival, Concord, tonight. Kannapolis ace Zach Ward will hurl. ... Meanwhile, Stanly pays a visit to South Rowan (1-2, 2-4). ... Stanly’s “Dog” Poplin missed a two-run double by a few feet when his second-inning shot down the left-field line hooked foul.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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