American Legion baseball: Rowan County’s Beasley shuts down Mocksville; Kannapolis wins again
Published 2:39 am Thursday, June 29, 2023
- Rowan's JT Taylor 1 rounding 3rd to score., photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Pos
Staff report
MOCKSVILLE — Lefty Mike Beasley threw a one-hitter, and Rowan County socked three homers in an 11-1 romp at Mocksville on Wednesday night at Rich Park.
Beasley, a Carson graduate who signed with Surry Community College, threw 72 pitches in a Southern Division of Area III American Legion baseball contest that was ended after five innings by the 10-run rule. He struck out six and walked two.
Beasley (4-0) got a lot of assistance from center fielder Elijah Palmer, who made a diving catch early and a running catch late.
Rowan (26-3, 6-0) scored in the first inning on Morgan Padgett’s RBI single.
Rowan went up 4-1 in the second inning when JT Taylor cleared the bases with a double. Matthew Connolly, Cole Johnson and Palmer got on base in front of Taylor’s hit to center field.
Johnson drew a bases-loaded walk in the third for a 5-1 lead.
Most of the offensive fireworks for Rowan came in the top of the fourth when Taylor and Blake Hill started the inning with back-to-back homers. Later in the same inning, Connolly made it 10-1 with a three-run shot, his first blast of the summer.
Padgett’s second RBI boosted Rowan’s lead to 11-1 in the fifth.
The homer was Taylor’s sixth, while the double was his 11th. The North Carolina A&T signee leads Rowan County in both categories.
Taylor boosted team-leading totals with three runs and four RBIs. He has scored 38 runs and has produced 35 RBIs despite leading off most of the time.
Rowan plays at Davidson County on Friday.
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Kannapolis kept pace with Rowan County in the Southern Division of Area III by beating Mooresville 7-5 in a back-and-forth game played on Wednesday at Northwest Cabarrus.
Jalan Chambers was the hero again for Post 115. His two-run homer in the fifth followed a double by Daniel Savage (Carson) and snapped a 4-all tie.
Brett Morris (South Rowan) had three hits and two RBIs for Kannapolis.
The winning pitcher was Zack Helms, who threw six innings. Will Hollmeyer pitched the seventh for a save.
Kannapolis and Rowan will play each other in back-to-back games on July 1 and 2.
