By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ó After a night of washing clothes, Rowan County coach Jim Gantt boarded a bus very early this morning ó departure was set for 5:30 a.m. ó for the long trip to Morehead City and the American Legion state tournament.
Opening ceremonies are tonight.
Play starts on Friday, and Rowan will be in action right away against Area I champion Wayne County (25-5), a familiar opponent, at 10 a.m.
Ganttís been up against Wayne often in the past (2002, 2007 and 2008 to name three memorable encounters), but he doesnít know a lot yet about this yearís version of Post 11.
ěAll I really know is theyíve got a very good left-handed pitcher and a lineup where the hitting is contagious,î Gantt said.
Wayne County is reported to have a lot of speed and has put up terrific offensive outbursts. There was a 17-4 victory against Cary in the playoffs, plus an 18-9 slugfest with Pitt County.
Rowan (23-8) heads for the coast without a whole lot of pressure and with lukewarm expectations from fans mostly because its nursing a rare, two-game losing streak.
ěWe could go down there and lose two quick and be done, but you just never know,î Gantt said. ěIf we pitch it a little and play defense and someone gets a key hit off someoneís closer ó and I realize thatís not easy to do ó we could play a while.î
Zack Simpson (6-1) and Bradley Robbins (3-1) ó hurlers who hadnít lost all summer ó both dropped decisions against red-hot High Point, which beat Rowan 6-5 (somewhat controversially) and 11-4 (very decisively) for a sweep of the Area III championship series. Simpsonís once miniscule ERA nearly doubled to 3.64 in High Pointís romp in Game 2.
Gantt said Thomas Allen, a rising sophomore at UNC Pembroke, will pitch against Wayne County.
Simpson, a rising soph at Brevard, will take the ball against Wilmington or Hickory in Rowanís second game on Saturday. That game will be either a matinee or a late afternoon contest depending on how Rowan fares in Fridayís opener.
Lefty Matt Laurens has been pencilled in as the No. 3 starter, assuming Rowan gets to Day 3 and assuming Laurens isnít needed in relief in Game 1 or Game 2.
Rowan fans have every reason to have considerable faith in Allen on the first day. He was 8-1 as an East Rowan senior in the spring of 2010. Then he was 4-0 for the Legion team last summer. He was 3-0 as a UNC Pembroke freshman, and heís 6-0 for Rowan this summer.
Thatís a long, consistent stretch of 21-1 pitching, and it should be noted that Allenís lone loss in that span came in a relief role for the Mustangs when he was coming back from an injury.
Hopefully, Allen hasnít just been jinxed. If heís ěonî on Friday, Rowan should have a good chance.
Having said that, this is not one of those Rowan teams that people are likely to write songs and poems about.
Itís just a solid, workmanlike team, with no Division I players or commitments, although some of the rising seniors and juniors certainly have bright futures.
The pitching has been good, although itís only occasionally been great. The defense, which struggled early, has actually been exceptional in most of the playoff games.
Still, no one, except for closer Will Johnson (eight saves), has performed at a record-breaking rate this summer and no oneís going to threaten any program career or season records in the state tournament.
There are no .400-hitting mashers in the lineup like Zach Smith and Trey Holmes were in recent years, although seven regulars currently sit between .309 and .374.
Shortstop Justin Morris and catcher/DH Luke Thomas have combined for 13 homers. Thereís also some speed, especially from outfielders Taylor Garczynski ó heís ridiculously fast ó Matt Mauldin and Will Sapp.
While everyone should be optimistic, itís pretty clear that there are teams in the field that boast more individual talent than Rowan.
Cherryville superstar Drew Reynolds played third base frequently for East Carolina as a freshman.
Hickory, which finished second to Cherryville in Area IV, had two of its studs drafted last month ó Western Carolina-bound Jeremy Null by the Mariners and Coastal Carolina signee Tyler Poole by the Red Sox.
Cary, runner-up in Area I to Wayne County, has a slugger (Blair Betts) who played at Indiana, and a pitcher (Chris Williams), who signed with N.C. State.
And so on, and so on.
Still, Area III teams generally do very well in this tournament and rarely head for the highway early.
Randolph, Rowan and Kernersville have given Area III a truckload of bragging rights with three straight state titles, and Rowan and Kernersville took matters a step further by winning Southeast Regional championships for World Series berths.
Gantt sounds like a loose guy whoís playing poker with house money.
ěThereís a lot of good qualities in our guys this year, as players and as personalities,î he said. ěTheyíve gone about things the right way. Theyíve tried hard to get better. Itís been a fun year. Iíll feel good about this team ó win or lose.î