CONCORD – Concord American Legion coach Bryan Tyson is just glad to have pitcher
Jaymie Russ on his side for a change. During the high school season, Tyson, the coach at Central Cabarrus High,
and Russ, the star pitcher at rival Northwest Cabarrus High, bump heads like the Hatfields
and McCoys.
But Wednesday night at Webb Field,
Tyson and Russ were sharing the same dugout when Concord (5-1 in Area III Southern
Division) overwhelmed South Rowan 12-0 in a game shortened to seven innings by the 10-run
rule.
Most of the overwhelming was done
by Russ, who allowed only two hits – one of them a scratch single – over six
innings. He never broke a sweat, fanning nine, walking just one, and refusing to allow
even one South runner to reach second base safely.
‘‘I’m glad that
Russ is with us,’’ said Tyson poetically. ‘‘He pitched a good game for
Northwest in the high school season and beat me. Tonight, he threw even better. He had all
his velocity. He looked like the old Russ.’’
Old or new, Russ was anything but
rusty.
He whiffed five of the first six
South batters he faced – mostly by blowing old-fashioned high heat right by them.
Russ had a no-hitter until the
fourth when Chris Goodman ripped a two-out single to the left-field wall. Even that play
wasn’t a positive for South, however, because Concord’s Jamie Tucker threw out
Goodman when he tried to stretch the hit into a double.
Tucker also did some damage with
his bat. He crushed a two-run homer off South starter Daniel Overby in the first inning.
He also had a blistering RBI double off reliever Jeremy Garmon in the sixth.
Most of the Concord lineup took
its hacks. The team, which is made up primarily of Tyson’s Central players, pounded
out 13 hits.
Bryant Parnell and Robert Scott
drove in three runs each, while Scott, Tucker and Chris Hartsell scored three times
apiece. Five players – including Russ – banged out multiple hits.
‘‘Yep, one through nine,
we can hit it pretty good,’’ said Tyson. ‘‘Never like we did tonight,
though. This should give us a little confidence.’’
There was little that South coach
Dwayne Fink could do other than shake his head while Concord whacked out six extra-base
hits and hijacked four bases.
‘‘That’s a tough
team,’’ he said. ‘‘I actually thought Overby (who was knocked out in
the fourth inning) was throwing well. He had a lot of their guys off-balance. But their
lineup doesn’t give you much margin for error. You make a mistake and all of a sudden
they’re scoring three and four runs at a time.’’
Which is exactly what Concord did.
Three in the first, three in the second and four more in the fourth to put the game away.
South (1-9 overall) couldn’t
hope to match that sort of firepower. Losers of six straight league games, South has
scored four or fewer runs four times.
‘‘On this night, at
least, Concord looked as good as anyone we’ve seen,’’ said Fink.
‘‘They played well. Their pitcher was first-class. Plus, they were solid in the
field.’’
South’s defense provided the
bulk of its sparse highlights. First baseman Daniel Pinyan and shortstop Craig Haas teamed
for a sharp 3-6-3 double play in the third and right fielder Kurt Ribelin made a diving,
skidding catch to end the sixth.
But South’s bats were silent.
Goodman, who played this past year at Pfeiffer University, had the only two solid hits.
The ill-fated one off Russ in the fourth and another off reliever Jason Richardson leading
off the seventh. Tommy Lee was credited with South’s other hit when he reached on a
tapper to third base in the sixth.
Mostly though, it was a night of
futility for South hitters. Their 21 outs included 11 strikeouts, five groundouts and
several weak pop ups. Brandon Earnhardt and Matt Gryder were the only South hitters not to
whiff at least once.
The good news for South is that it
will have another chance to get its first league win on Friday night when it hosts Wilkes
County. The bad news is that Wilkes is the team that handed Concord it’s only league
loss to date.
Concord travels to Newman Park
tonight to take on Rowan County (2-4).
NOTES: Tyson said he
won’t have either of his top pitchers available tonight to face Rowan. Russ obviously
won’t pitch. His other ace – lefty Jeremy Lewis – threw a lot of pitches
Sunday. ... ‘‘Rowan’s still the cream of the crop,’’ said Tyson.
... When it rains it pours department: After Tucker homered in his first at-bat, South
elected to walk him intentionally when he came to bat with a runner on second in the
second inning. The first pitch of that intended intentional pass, however, sailed to the
backstop, allowing the baserunner to take third. |
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