By Nick Bowton
Salisbury Post
MOUNT ULLA ó West Rowan has a young team and isn’t having a great season, but coach David Wright doesn’t expect the rest of the NPC to view his team that way.
No, Wright expects what he’s been seeing all season ó other teams’ best pitchers. His Falcons faced one of those scenarios again Wednesday night, when Aubrey Meadows struck out 12 batters and limited the Falcons to two hits in a 6-0 Mooresville victory.
“Every night we go at it, we’re gonna have to play well,” Wright said. “The one key thing is we’re still West Rowan ó last night we saw North Iredell’s No. 1; tonight we saw Mooresville’s No. 1.
“It’s been like that all year. My young kids have gotta grow up from that.”
Even if Wright had a veteran team, his Falcons (8-8 overall, 3-7 NPC) might not have been able to do much against Meadows.
Already having pitched a one-hitter this season, Meadows gave up only a double to Tyler King and a seventh-inning single to designated hitter Matt Sheets.
Mooresville coach Jeff Burchett said his team’s pitching prowess sometimes carries over to offense. But Mooresville (13-2, 8-2) didn’t need an effective offense last night.The Falcons committed two errors and gave up an unearned run in the top of the first inning, and they finished the night with six errors. Starting pitcher Jake Koontz lasted five innings and gave up five runs, three of them earned.
“Uncharacteristically, we made six errors tonight and had several plays that were hits that should have been outs,” said Wright, whose team gave up two infield singles. “There were some plays we generally make.”
Couple that off-night defensively with Meadows on the mound for Mooresville, and West didn’t have much of a chance after it fell behind.
Meadows helped himself by doubling the Blue Devils’ lead with a solo home run to center field in the third inning, and after Johnny McElhany hit an RBI double in the fourth, Mooresville added two runs in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.
After the Blue Devils scored their final run in the sixth inning, West had its most successful inning of the night offensively in the seventh. Pinch hitter Zack Simpson walked, and Sheets singled to right to get two men on base for the first time.
Meadows then recorded his final strikeout to end the game and establish Mooresville as the clear No. 2 team in the NPC behind East Rowan. The Blue Devils trail East by two games but have that same edge on Northwest Cabarrus and South Rowan.
“We got them at home next week,” Burchett said. “So we’re definitely looking forward to that opportunity. We’re playing well right now. Once you get great pitching and good defense, you’re gonna be in the game.”
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Contact Nick Bowton at 704-797-4256 or nbowton@salisburypost.com.