Staff report

SALISBURY — One inch, one pitch, one call or one swing can change everything in a baseball game.

That was the case on Wednesday at Newman Park. where one swing was the thing.

Rowan County’s American Legion baseball team had allowed momentum to slide over to the visiting dugout and a third straight loss looked like better than a 50/50 proposition, but in the bottom of the sixth, Aiden Schenck sent a two-out, bases-loaded triple screaming toward the wall in right-center.

Schenck’s clutch triple turned 3-3 into 6-3 in a hurry, and Rowan County was able to beat Chatham County 8-5 in a wet, non-division game.

Early on, it did not appear that Rowan (10-2) would need any heroics from its hitters, as Rowan starting pitcher Logan Dyer was perfect for three innings.

Chatham County scored twice in the top of the fourth to go in front 2-1, but Rowan County took the lead right back in the bottom half. Blake Hill’s triple keyed those two runs.

Dyer kept Chatham County (2-4) off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth, but the visitors were able to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Alex Hagler relieved Dyer and got the last two outs.

So it was 3-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth. Rowan’s winning inning began with Elijah Palmer being hit by a pitch. Rowan played for one run, and Cole Johnson’s sacrifice bunt moved Palmer to second. Hill was hit by a pitch and Luke Graham singled to lad the bases.

Chatham County got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, bringing up Schenck in a pivotal situation. If he makes an out there, Rowan probably doesn’t win, but instead of making an out, he drove in three runs.

When Hayden Simmerson followed Schenck with a two-run homer to left-center, Rowan led 8-3.

It still got interesting in the top of the seventh when Chatham Central tried to stage a two-out rally and scored twice, but Corbin Hales was able to nail down the final out.

Schenck had a run-scoring single in the first inning for a four-RBI night.

Rowan gets no rest and will play Concord on Thursday at 7 p.m. Concord plays its home games at A.L. Brown High.

 

 

Chatham County       000    201   2    — 5

Rowan County          100     205   x   — 8

HR — Rowan: Simmerson (2).

W — Hagler (2-0)