By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Jay M. Robinson may be ruining the spring breaks of Rowan County teams one win at a time. Unfortunately for East Rowan, it was the target on Wednesday.
The Mustangs, defending 3A state champions, dropped their third game out of four in a 5-3 loss to the Bulldogs in Day 2 of the F&M Bank High School Baseball Classic at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
For the second day in a row, East faced a sizable deficit out of the gate, falling behind 5-0 before recording three outs.
Clearly, the Mustangs werenít privy to the 10:30 a.m. start, pushed back half an hour after some early rain.
ěI donít care if itís 3 oí clock in the morning, 10 oí clock, or 7 oí clock at night,î East coach Brian Hightower said. ěYouíve got to wake up and play the game.î
East will get a little more sleep tonight, with its Classic finale at 7 p.m. against heated rival Northwest Cabarrus.
Meanwhile, Clemson commit Brody Koerner pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs, who topped its second straight Rowan County team. Koerner got the last out Wednesday against South Rowan and resumed his form with a 5-hitter, sprinkling four walks around another win against Rowan County for the Bulldogs.
ěBrody threw a heck of a game,î Robinson coach Jason Sarvis said. ěAgainst a good-hitting fastball team like East Rowan, he mixed in his changeup and curveball really well.î
East starter Alex Bost struck out leadoff hitter Blaine Hill to start the first, but allowed the next five batters to reach. Hunter Kocher walked with the bases loaded to make it 3-0. Designated hitter Philip Perry took an inside fastball and sprayed it to right field with the bases loaded to score a pair and end the five-run spurt as well as Bostís day after just 2/3 of an inning.
ě[Bost] just didnít have it today, but weíve got to keep getting him a shot,î Hightower said.
Koerner failed to give up a hit until Luke Thomas doubled to start the fourth. Ashton Fleming would stay at second as Koerner retired the next three hitters in order.
ěWhenever heís throwing that changeup and itís bouncing in there, it looks good like his fastball,î Hightower said. ěItís got good movement down so you chase it a little bit.î
The Mustangs finally got the ball rolling on offense in the sixth when Will Sapp and Justin Morris singled to start the inning and Thomas walked to load the bases. Andy Austin popped out to shortstop on the first pitch, but Nathan Fulbright coaxed a walk to get the Mustangs on the board. Fleming followed with a sacrifice fly to center field. After Avery Rogers singled to score Thomas and extend the frame, Koerner got Chase Hathcock to fly out to right to end the inning.
In the seventh, Morris hit a two-out double to bring the tying run to the plate, but Thomas struck out to finalize the game.
ěWe havenít gotten that big hit in the later innings yet,î Hightower said.
Morris got five scoreless innings in to keep East within striking distance before Bradley Robbins got the final out.
Though East still sits at 15-7 and in first place in the North Piedmont Conference with an 11-1 league record, Hightower realized the urgency that comes with defending a state title.
ěWeíre not playing as clean a defense as we need to and not pitching as well as we need,î Hightower said.