By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LILLINGTON — Rowan County made a determined run at history, but came up short on Saturday afternoon in a 5-3 loss to Wayne County in the state tournament.

Rowan was one base hit away from an epic comeback at Jim Perry Stadium at Campbell University, but Wayne County relief pitcher Colin Woolard got two of Rowan’s best hitters out in a pressure-packed situation. Rowan had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh when Woolard struck out JT Taylor and got Lucas Graham to hit into a game-ending and season-ending double play — with .400-hitter Morgan Padgett in the on-deck circle.

Rowan had its work cut out after losing 4-1 in Tuesday’s opening round to Wayne County and needed to make a long-shot run — five straight victories — to take the state championship. Even if Rowan had gotten past Wayne County, it still would have had to beat Fuquay-Varina for the title.

Rowan has won four state championships since American Legion adopted the single-site tournament format in 2000. Rowan was able to stay in the winner’s bracket all four times. Rowan went undefeated in the state tournaments held in 2002, 2015 and 2016.

In the 2009 state tournament, Rowan was still undefeated going into the last day. Rowan lost to Shelby, but then beat Shelby in a second championship game to claim the title.

The best previous run Rowan had made from the loser’s bracket was in 2000, the first state tourney, when Rowan lost in the second round to Cherryille, but then beat Wilmington, Kannapolis and Cherryville to make it to the state championship game. Rowan lost that title game to Caldwell County.

This year’s Rowan squad was able to win do-or-die games on Wednesday (Cherryville), Thursday (Pitt County) and Friday (Fuquay-Varina) before running out of steam. Rowan was held to four hits by Wayne County, two each by Aiden Schenck and Elijah Palmer.

Rowan used Mikey Beasley, Drew Burton and Padgett on the mound on Saturday. Beasley pitched two innings and took his first loss of the summer. He allowed three runs, two on a second-inning homer by Landon Sutton that put Wayne County ahead to stay.

Wayne County scored in each of the first four innings and pushed its lead to 5-1 against Burton, although one of the two runs Burton allowed was unearned. Padgett relieved Burton in the fourth and kept Wayne County from scoring in the fifth and sixth. That gave Rowan a chance to come back.

Rowan was the visiting team and got a run in the top of the first when Taylor walked, moved around to third on a steal and a passed ball and scored on Padgett’s sacrifice fly. That 1-0 lead didn’t last long.

Down 5-1, Rowan crept one run closer in the fifth when Cole Johnson walked, advanced to third on Palmer’s double and scored on Taylor’s sac fly.

Wayne County pitcher Gabe Adams beat Rowan on Tuesday and beat Rowan again on Saturday. He was in charge until he tired in the seventh as he neared the pitch-count limit.

Blake Hill reached on an error to start the Rowan seventh. When Johnson and Matthew Connolly drew walks to load the bases with no outs, Rowan was in business.

When No. 9 hitter Palmer whacked a solid, run-scoring single to make it 5-3, he kept the merry-go-round spinning and got Rowan back to the top of the lineup. It appeared Rowan had at least a 50/50 chance to pull the game out at that point.

But Woolard won the crucial battles. He got Taylor, Rowan’s RBI leader, on strikes with a breaking ball. Then he got Graham, who led Rowan in hits, to bounce into a double play.

For Rowan County and head coach Jim Gantt, the loss marked an end to a terrific season (40-7) that provided plenty of thrills at Newman Park. The seasons turned in by Taylor and Hayden Simmerson, who were playing their first (and last) Legion seasons, put them on some all-time leaderboards. Simmerson’s walk-off grand slam against High Point to win the Area III championship was one of the best Rowan Legion moments of the last decade.

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Fuquay-Varina beat Wayne County 5-2 for the state championship. It was Fuquay-Varina’s second state title. Post 116 also won in 2021.

Wayne added to a long list of runner-up finishes, but still has never won it all.

Rowan handed Fuquay-Varina its only loss of the tournament. In the 2022 tournament, Rowan was the only team to beat state champ Wilmington.

Rowan and Wayne have met often in the state tournament. Rowan beat Wayne twice in 2002 at Newman Park, with the second win coming in the championship game. Rowan also won against Wayne in the state tournament in 2008, 2011 and 2021. Wayne clobbered Rowan in 2007, the only time Wayne ever had beaten Rowan in the state event before taking two this time.

As the North Carolina champ, Fuquay-Varina will play in the Southeast Regional and will join host Randolph County there on Aug. 2.

State champs from Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee also will be in the field.