By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Preston Troutman started the deciding game of the Area III championship series, and Billy Veal finished Rowan County’s wild win against Mooresville.
That combination came through with a more prestigious title at stake.
With Troutman and Veal handling the pitching duties, Rowan won 5-3 against Shelby in the finale of the American Legion state tournament at East Carolina.
Troutman, an emotional Legion rookie who entered Wednesday with six relief appearances and his one abbreviated start, limited Shelby to two runs in 51/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter until the sixth.
“He got his first Legion win and picked a good time to get it,” Rowan coach Jim Gantt said with a laugh.
“He beats himself up, and really he’s just playing against a game in himself most of the time and it’s not really the opponent. He’s got the ability, but by the time he’s 20 he’s going to be walking around with a beat-up black eye because he lets the game beat himself up. He just has to learn to relax and let the game come. He did that today.”
Troutman, a starting shortstop during the high school and Legion seasons, led county pitchers with 53 strikeouts as an East Rowan junior. He won four games, saved two and had a 1.77 ERA.
Troutman played nine innings at shortstop during Rowan’s loss to Shelby in the first of two championship games Wednesday. Philip Miclat moved to short and Ethan Fisher stepped in at second base with Troutman pitching.
“It’s really important for me to just get ahead of people and keep it in the strike zone,” Troutman said.
Veal replaced Troutman on the mound Wednesday and tossed the final 32/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits. He induced an inning-ending double play after inheriting a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and finished two more frames with a strikeout.
Veal’s only other save of the season came in Rowan’s second game. He’s made eight starts, including an eight-inning effort against Cherryville on the second day of the state tournament.
He allowed three runs and struck out six batters in 112/3 innings at ECU.
“You have to try to relax and let your defense work,” Veal said. “Don’t try to overpower people; just let your stuff work for you.”
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STARTING STRONG: Veal, staff ace Corbin Shive, Forrest Buchanan and Nick Smith ó the standard members of Rowan’s starting rotation ó are a combined 24-0 heading into next week’s Southeast Regional. Four of those victories occurred in relief.
Starters for Rowan (32-7) have 21 wins, two losses and 16 no-decisions.
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HIT PARADE: Rowan third baseman Noah Holmes didn’t reach base in his final two plate appearances at ECU, but a third-inning double gave him 10 hits in a span of 14 official at-bats.
Holmes went 5-for-5 with a walk his first six times up in Wednesday’s doubleheader.
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ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Shelby sidearmer Adam Izokovic, a rising sophomore at Gardner-Webb, pitched a complete game Sunday and returned to the mound with only two days of complete rest.
He threw 103 pitches in seven innings of Shelby’s elimination-game win against Rowan and tossed 55 more while shutting out Rowan over the final four innings of the deciding contest.
“He’s got a rubber arm,” Shelby coach Mike Grayson said. “If the rules said he could pitch every day, he could pitch every day.”