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Serving historic Rowan County, North Carolina since 1905.

 BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

‘‘We’ve still got a great team out here. We’re capable of a lot of things,’’ said Hatley, a third-year starter, after Rowan came from behind with a nine-run fifth inning to defeat second-place Concord 15-5 in a seven-inning game at Newman Park on Thursday night.

Rowan, the defending Southern Division and Area III champion, is off to a 3-4 start. Coach Jim DeHart’s club is tied for seventh place in the 10-team divisional standings.

‘‘Some people have written us off and said we’re too young, but this is a good ballclub out here, and we can do a bunch of things with the talent we’ve got said Hatley, who went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a stolen base and four runs batted in.

‘‘I felt really good about the way I hit the ball, not only about the way I hit the ball, but the way the team hit the ball,’’ said Hatley. ‘‘We really came through tonight. I feel like we’ve been struggling a little bit at the plate in big situations, leaving a bunch of runners on. Tonight, a bunch of the guys came through with big hits in big situations, and we were able to win big because of it.’’

Rowan had 12 hits, including two each by Paul Black, Cal Hayes and Brett Peiffer. Black, Hayes and Brad Canipe each drove in two runs.

Left-handed pitcher Daniel Moore shook off a bad third inning, when a wild pickoff throw allowed two Concord runners to score, and went all the way on the mound. He struck out 15 batters, including three in each of the third and fourth innings.

Rowan trailed 4-2 going into the last of the fourth inning, then loaded the bases on three straight walks. Concord relief pitcher Robert Scott then got three straight batters out without allowing a run. For DeHart, it brought back memories of Wednesday night’s game at Mocksville-Davie, when Rowan left 14 runners on base and lost 11-6.

‘‘I really thought, ‘Here we go again,’ because kids get in ruts like that and things start happening to them. They’re young enough to think about that the next day. Maybe I thought about it more than they did,’’ said the veteran Rowan coach.

Rowan trailed 5-2 after Concord scored a run in the fifth, then the home team bounced back with nine runs in the fifth. Hayes singled in two runs, Hatley doubled in a pair and Canipe tripled in two more during the inning.

‘‘It happened to us last night,’’ said Hatley, referring to Rowan loading the bases with no outs in the second inning at Mocksville and then not scoring. ‘‘I knew that they pitcher they were throwing (starter Josh Fregosi), we could get to him, and whoever they would throw at us. After that, we just really battled back, kept our heads up and kept hitting the ball. That was the key tonight,’’ said Hatley.

‘‘They tried my patience last night at Mocksville, but we turned right around and that same bunch played this game,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘What I was really more pleased about than anything tonight was when they (Concord) came from behind and made that three runs in that inning. We came back and didn’t give up. We didn’t leave 14 on base.’’

Rowan has three returning position players off last year’s team that lost to Cherryville in the Western North Carolina finals, but all are in different positions – Hatley moving from second base to shortstop, Black from right field to center, and Eddie Guessford from left field to right. The pitching staff also has a new look with starters Brian Whitaker, Rocky Eagle, Buck Hamrick and Aaron Johnson all gone.

‘‘This is Rowan County,’’ said Hatley. ‘‘Everybody expects us to come out here and win. I thought at first it might be a little bit rough. I didn’t think it was going to be as rough a ride as it was. Hopefully, I think we’ve got it together now, and we can go win some ballgames.’’

‘‘We’re going to take some lumps, and we have already,’’ said DeHart, who says Stanly County (6-0) and Concord (5-2) are the Southern Division teams to beat.

‘‘We’re not in it yet,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘The next time we play them (Concord), they may do the same thing to us that we did tonight, because they are a lot better ballclub than they showed tonight. I think Concord’s got the pitching if they can keep (Jeremy) Lewis there.’’

Lewis, an ace left-hander from Central Cabarrus High School, is expected to be selected in major league baseball’s June draft.

NOTES: Brian York belted a third-inning solo home run to left field for Concord, which got only five hits off Moore. Scott went 2-for-4 to lead Concord’s hitting. ... Black, Hayes, Hatley and Peiffer each had a stolen base for Rowan. ... Rowan returns to action at Wilkes County at 7 p.m. Saturday with right-hander Jimmy Haynes (1-0) on the mound.