By David Shaw
dshaw@salisburypost.com
LANDIS ó South Rowanís baseball team has a new address ó first place in the NPC.
The Raiders rode the elevator to the top floor Friday night with an efficient 10-2 win over visiting West Iredell.
ěIíve said it before,î third-year coach Thad Chrismon quipped after South (4-2) improved to 3-0 in league play. ěI really like this team. I like the enthusiasm and energy we brought to the field tonight.î
There was much to admire against West (3-3, 2-2), one of the teams expected to challenge favored East Rowan for the conference title. The Raiders played errorless defense. They banged out a season-high 12 hits and chased losing pitcher Sam Laws ó a right-hander who has drawn interest from Catawba and Mars Hill ó in the third inning.
Most importantly, South found itself an ace pitcher in Matt Miller. Blending a darting fastball with a menacing slider and a biting curve, the junior right-hander pitched a complete-game four-hitter and delivered the Raiders to unexpected heights.
ěI never felt this good after a game in my life,î Miller said. ěI was hitting my spots. My arm was alive. And the defense was great behind me.î
Miller struck out eight batters, walked none and induced nine groundouts. His lone mistake was poled over the fence in left-center field by WI slugger Sean Grant for a fourth-inning homer.
ěBut even then,î South catcher Eric Tyler noted, ěhe bounced right back. He didnít stay down.î
Miller responded by fanning the next three hitters. Westís final run crossed on a seventh-inning wild pitch.
ěMy hitters told me he had good movement on all of his pitches,î said losing coach Randy Martin. ěBut he beat us with his fastball. We couldnít square up on him.î
South had no such problem against Laws. Tyler floated a two-run double down the rightfield line to open the scoring in the last of the first. Two innings later, Preston Penninger was hit with an 0-2 fastball with the bases loaded to make it 3-0. By the time Jacob Dietz lined an RBI single to center it was 6-0.
The rest was up to Miller (2-0, 2.04 ERA), who pitched like he had a roast in the oven. He finished off a briskly played game by sneaking a knee-buckling, 3-2 slider past Vance Robinette.
ěIf he does stuff like that,î Chrismon said afterward, ěhe can pitch for me any day of the week.î
Last night Miller did it for a first-place team. ěWeíre going with our hair on fire, trying to beat every team in this conference,î he said. ěWeíve got a good chance.î
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NOTES: South visits A.L. Brown at 2 p.m today and hosts Carson on Monday. … Tyler added a two-run single in Southís four-run sixth. He finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.