By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
When the Rowan County American Legion baseball team plays far away, as they will this weekend in the state tournament in Greenville, fans who want to see them in person go into a preparation mode.
Depending on how deep the boys go in the double-elimination tournament, some fans may have to make arrangements to miss work next week.
Then there’s finding a hotel, gassing up the car, taking care of the pets and having a neighbor pick up the mail and newspapers.
You just don’t know how long you’ll be gone. And the longer it is, the more expensive it can be.
Calvin Veal, whose son Billy plays for the team, cleared things with his employer, John S. Clark Construction, in case Rowan County keeps winning and their games continue into the work week.
“I work for a good company, and they understood you do what you have to do,” Veal said.
Veal will leave early Saturday morning from his Spencer home so he can arrive at East Carolina University’s Clark-LeClair Stadium by the scheduled 12:30 p.m. starting time.
Rowan County, Area III champions and 27-6 on the year, will take on Duplin-Sampson in its first game.
Win or lose, Rowan’s second game will be at 7 p.m. Sunday. If the team loses, the Sunday game will be at Rose High School Stadium in Greenville.
With a win Saturday, the team will play again Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Calvin Veal is catching a break on lodging. He has secured a hotel room where the team is booked, and he’s using his saved-up Holiday Inn points to stay for free.
A frequent traveler, Veal says, “it takes me about 10 minutes to pack a bag.”
His younger son and wife are staying in Spencer over the weekend because Billy’s brother has his own baseball commitments. They’ll join Calvin later in Greenville, if Rowan keeps winning.
And Calvin hopes that’s the case, of course. It’s Billy’s last Legion season and he would like to see “2009” on the board in Newman Park next year where the legion’s state champions are listed.
This year’s Rowan County American Legion baseball team is a hitting bunch, carrying a .368 team average. The boys also have set a team record with 52 home runs under Coach Jim Gantt.
Rowan fans going to Greenville will be watching at least the first game in the $11 million Clark-LeClair Stadium, which has a stadium bleacher capacity of about 3,000.
The Lewis Field dimensions are 320 down the left- and right-field lines and 390 to center.
The stadium features a new scoreboard with a video/graphics display screen.
The Rowan County team leaves Salisbury at 7 a.m. today, goes through an orientation at 1;30 p.m. and attends a banquet tonight.
The state tournament has eight teams and includes Mooresville, which was the Area III runner-up to Rowan.
If you’re driving, count on the trip taking at least three-and-a-half hours and 210 miles, according to MapQuest.
If you want to follow the team’s exploits from home, tune into Memories 1280 WSAT or 1490 WSTP, both on the AM dial.
Both Salisbury radio stations, which have covered every Rowan County game this season, will be broadcasting live, coming on the air 30 minutes prior to Saturday’s game. Interviews with Gantt precede the game on both stations.
Randy Swicegood and Jeff Vail will be calling the action for 1280 WSAT, and Howard Platt will be joined by Mike Fisher Saturday and the Salisbury Post’s Bret Strelow for the rest of the games.
This is Platt’s 31st year of calling American Legion games.
The stations also have live feeds on the Internet. Catch the WSAT broadcast at 1280WSAT.com.
WSAT owner Buddy Poole said 118 people listened to Rowan County’s most recent game through his station’s Web site.
Platt’s broadcast also can be heard on 1490WSTP.com.
Directions:Folks traveling to Greenville from Rowan County can take Interstate 85 north to Interstate 40 east toward Raleigh. In Raleigh, take U.S. 64 east before connecting with U.S. 264 in Zebulon and heading east through downtown Wilson and into Greenville. Take the U.S. 264 bypass around Greenville. The bypass becomes Greenville Boulevard. Take Greenville Boulevard to Charles Boulevard (a left) and follow Charles Boulevard to Clark-LeClair Stadium on the right.