By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
SPENCER — There was so much to tell after North Rowan’s 19-11 win against South Davidson on Wednesday.
For starters, the Cavaliers rallied from a 9-0 deficit before their first at-bat and posted their highest run total of the year. Matt Laurens and Dakota Brown hit consecutive home runs to give North the lead for keeps in the third inning, where the Cavs sent 15 batters to the plate.
But despite all that, according to North coach Aaron Rimer, there wasn’t much to say.
“I expected us to hit the ball and that’s pretty much the only thing we did well tonight,” said the first-year coach. “Good teams come to play every day. We didn’t come to play.”
The Cavaliers (10-2, 8-2) scored double digit runs for the fourth straight game, moving into a first-place tie with South Stanly in the Yadkin Valley Conference.
Although the Cavs won their seventh straight, the less-than-stellar start left Rimer with a bad taste in his mouth. The first eight South batters reached base and North starter Tyler Blume threw 32 pitches before recording an out.
“We’ve got to come out here with better attitudes,” Brown said. “We came out flat.”
Aaron Blackmon, Cameron Carroll, Eli Hendrick and Will Collins all had run-scoring hits for South in the first and knocked Blume out of the game after just one out.
Josh Price came on in relief and was effective, throwing 41/3 innings to stop the bleeding. Price allowed just one run over his stint and struck out five.
North pulled within one after a six-run second inning. South added another run when Dane Hill scored on a wild pitch in the third, but Price got Jordan Peacock and Hendrick to strikeout to cease the threat.
After Mason Jennings led of the bottom of the third with a double, Jake Smith’s RBI double to left scored Jennings to make it 10-9. Laurens hit his second homer in as many games with an 0-2 count to put North on top for good at 10-9 as South starter Zack Strother was knocked out of the game.
“He’s starting to hit really well,” Rimer said of Laurens. “He’s hitting to his ability now.”
Brown, North’s leadoff hitter, then sent a pitch from Brandon Haneline over the center-field fence for his first blast of the year.
“I watched him when he warmed up and coach told me ‘if it’s in there, swing at it,’” Brown said.
North wasn’t done there as Parker Smith scored on a wild pitch and Matt Mauldin, Tyler Wyatt and Hunter Feezor would also drive in runs in the inning.
No. 2 hitter Wes Barker had a painful night for the Cavs, getting hit by a pitch three times. Cleanup hitter Mauldin drove in three runs, scored twice and had two hits.
“Having the conference championship in our hands and this is what you do with it, it’s scary,” Rimer said. “The guys got to understand they can’t fall asleep against teams.”