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Jesse Boger leads Rowan County on mound

 BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

Boger, a right-hander from North Rowan High School, allowed only six hits while getting his first Legion victory in his first start. He had pitched twice in relief before last night’s Southern Division of Area III contest at Holt-Moffitt Field.

‘‘I thought those relief appearances helped me out, getting used to getting out of the game and having all these guys behind me,’’ said Boger, a first-year Legion hurler. ‘‘It just felt good getting this first win.’’

Boger had an 8-2 lead when he allowed a walk and a single with one out in the fifth inning. Rowan coach Jim DeHart paid a visit to the mound.

‘‘He was rushing a little bit out there. It was an 8-2 game when I went out,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘I said, ‘Even if these two guys score, it doesn’t really mean much, because we’re going to get some more runs on this guy (Lexington starter Tony Hooks). You’ve got to stay back and pitch your game. Let these two score; it doesn’t matter.’ He just pitched right out of it.’’

An outstanding defensive play by third baseman Eric Mowery forced out Lexington’s Chase Younts at second, then Scott Wilson walked to load the bases. Boger struck out No. 5 hitter Chris Stone to get out of the inning, then shut out the home team over the final two innings.

Boger, who said he was hoping to go the distance, said, ‘‘It got a little shaky right there, then we ended up pulling it out, and the coach left me in.’’

‘‘We were keeping a pitch count,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘I let him go back out in the seventh with the understanding that we weren’t going to throw a lot of pitches. He had 100 after six innings. I thought he had pitched so well that he deserved it. I think he wound up with 110 pitches.’’

‘‘Coach came out and talked to me and settled me down,’’ said Boger. ‘‘I started throwing strikes and got them out. ... I had been a little shaky with the control through the inning, then I came back and got that guy. That felt really good.’’

Rowan then got four runs in the sixth inning, when Chad Walker had the only hit, and stretched the lead to 12-2. That meant the game would be shortened to seven innings by the 10-run-lead rule if Boger could keep the home team from scoring.

‘‘All these guys were ready to go, and I was too,’’ said Boger of winning in seven innings instead of nine. ‘‘We just wanted the second win. We’re trying to get something together after the first three losses.’’

Rowan got off to an 0-3 start in league play for the first time since 1984, then beat Statesville 18-3 on Monday and Lexington last night to improve to 2-3.

‘‘Boger pitched an outstanding game for us. That’s two games in a row we’ve had, I thought, great pitching – Jim (Haynes) last night and Boger tonight. That starts us. When we score runs in the first inning, that makes it a lot easier for them,’’ said DeHart.

Rowan scored in the first when Brad Canipe singled in a run, then added four runs in the third, two in the fourth, one in the fifth and four in the sixth.

Rowan had eight hits, including a 2-for-2 performance by Eddie Guessford with three runs batted in, a 3-for-4 night by Canipe with two RBIs and a 2-for-4 game by Walker with his first homer of the season and two RBIs.

‘‘I just go out there and try to hit my teammates in,’’ said Guessford, who already has two homers and eight runs batted in. ‘‘Hopefully, our pitchers, like Jesse did tonight, will pitch a good game, like Jimmy did last night. Hopefully, Daniel Moore will pitch a good game against Concord (Thursday night). I don’t know who’s pitching our next game, but, hopefully, they’ll pitch good.’’

The Rowan slugger, who played right field, soon found out from DeHart who was pitching at Mocksville-Davie at 7 p.m. today.

‘‘We are going to start Eddie Guessford. I just told him,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘It’s Walker’s turn, but he’s got that (sore) shoulder). He looks fine and feels fine, but we are going to let him go one rotation. He’ll skip his turn this time, and he’ll come back the next turn, which will be another week from now. ... Eddie can throw hard, and he’s got a breaking pitch.’’

Guessford had a 4-1 record while pitching for the first time in high school at East Rowan during the past season.

NOTES: Lexington, which dropped to 3-3 for the season, was led by Younts, who went 3-for-4, and Andrew Harrison, who was 2-for-4. Harrison’s run-scoring double in the third inning was the only extra-base hit for Lexington. ... Tom McCarthy, who pitched in the major leagues for the Chicago White Sox, is Lexington’s first-year head coach.