By Bill Kiser
Salisbury Post
LANDIS ó Walker Snow is the first to admit he’s got a few things to work on in the way he throws a baseball.
That was news to Statesville’s American Legion team, which was handcuffed by Snow and his defense in a 7-3 win by South Rowan on Tuesday night.The victory pushed South (8-6, 7-3) into sole possession of third place in the Southern Division of Area III. It entered Tuesday’s game tied with Kannapolis and Stanly County, but Kannapolis lost to league leader Rowan County 5-0. Stanly had the night off.Snow threw seven solid innings in getting his first victory of the season. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out eight as South won its third straight game.”It was another big game,” said Snow, who pitched the final inning against Stanly on Monday. “I’ve been working on my mechanics … and trying not to rush anything. I didn’t have it all tonight, but I was able to work with what I had and our defense played great.”
Said South Rowan coach David Wright: “He threw pretty well. We’ve been trying to lengthen him out and correct a few flaws in his delivery. … Tonight, he made better adjustments and everything. We played good enough defense behind him, and we produced enough to win.”
Snow threw well enough to strike out seven of the first 11 batters he faced, and he had a perfect game going until he issued a walk to Kyle Grant with two out in the top of the fourth inning.
“(Snow) did a good job,” Statesville coach Todd Stroud said. “We should’ve been a little more aggressive with our bats. He was struggling a little with his off-speed (pitches) and throwing a lot of fastballs. But we looked at too many pitches.”
Snow saw his chance at a no-hitter and a shutout disappear in the at-bat after Grant’s walk. Buddy Sosnaski drilled a two-run home run over the left-field wall to pull Statesville (4-7, 3-7) within 3-2.
South Rowan had taken the lead in the bottom of the third by scoring three runs ó the first two coming without a hit.
Ryan Bostian led off the inning with a walk, stole second and third, then scored on Statesville pitcher Sammy Lail’s balk. Jonathon Basinger, who had walked, went to second on the balk and took third on a wild pitch. He scored on Chase Deal’s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
South added its third run of the inning when C.J. Neal scored on Matt Ingold’s bases-loaded infield single. Neal had reached with a walk, then moved around on a single by Caleb Shore and a walk to Ivan Corriher.After Statesville pulled back within one run on Sosnaski’s homer, South scored three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Bostian led off with a double, and Daniel Wagner followed with two-run blast into the trees outside the right-field fence.
Basinger answered with a walk, moved around on singles by Deal and Neal and scored on a passed ball to put South ahead 6-2.
Statesville pulled back within 6-3 in the top of the sixth on Tanner Stroud’s two-out RBI single, but South responded in the bottom of the eighth when Ingold scored on a fielding error.
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Notes: Tuesday’s game was delayed for more than 40 minutes after a thunderstorm passed through the area. South had just pulled ahead 7-3 when game officials pulled the teams off the field because of lightning, followed by heavy rain. The teams were able to resume the game 46 minutes later. … Neal and Ingold each had two hits for South, which finished with nine hits but left 11 runners on base. Those scoring opportunities came thanks to Statesville’s pitching, which gave up seven walks. … Sosnaski led Statesville with two hits.