Staff report

MOUNT ULLA — East Rowan beat West Rowan again in South Piedmont Conference baseball on Tuesday.

The Mustangs used a five-run fifth to beat the Falcons 8-4 and finished off a season sweep.

East (18-4, 12-3) took a giant step toward another conference championship. While it sounds weird, the Falcons (19-4, 13-3) have clinched at least a co-championship, but East still has some work to do.

East has a game left on Friday with a Robinson team (10-12, 6-9) that is dangerous and still has a lot to play for. The Bulldogs are sixth in the SPC standings, but they still have playoff hopes. They’re No. 32 in the 3A West RPI rankings. Thirty-two will make the bracket.

There’s not much doubt the Falcons (19-4, 13-3) are one of the best teams in 3A, but East, behind pitcher Harrison Ailshie, a junior UNC commit, has been able to contain a lineup filled with .400 hitters.

When the smoked cleared after the latest East-West meeting, the teams had switched places in the 3A West RPI rankings. East moved up to second. West dropped to third. North Iredell is still No. 1.

Ailshie (8-1) shut down the Falcons the first time the teams played this season, but he was pushed — quite literally — to the limit in the rematch. He reached the pitch limit (105) on the last batter he faced in the seventh. Ailshie allowed four runs, seven hits and two walks in his most human performance of the season. He struck out seven.

East produced enough offense to make Ailshie a winner, handing Maddox Moore (7-1) his first loss of the season. The Mustangs got Moore off the mound with two on and none out in the fifth when the game was still 3-all. The runners he left on base came around to score and made him the losing pitcher.

Moore threw 87 pitches. He struck out two, walked two and allowed seven hits. West used Carter Durant, Luke Ponczka and Brant Graham in relief.

Durant walked Sam Blackwelder with the bases loaded to put East ahead to stay at 4-3. The Mustangs got their fifth run as the Falcons recorded a double play, and the inning continued. Hunter Goodman’s two-out hit made it 6-3. Krys Hernandez gave Ailshie a nice cushion with a two-run double for 8-3.

West trailed 3-1 going to the fourth, but tied the game on Durant’s solo homer and a sac fly by Brice Knox.

Durant got his third hit as West tried to rally in the seventh. West had one run in and two men on and had the tying run in the on-deck circle when Mason Phelps earned a save by getting a game-ending double play.

Phelps had two hits and scored three runs for the Mustangs. Zeke Stewart had two hits and scored twice. Hernandez and Keaton Walker had two RBIs.

Durant’s three hits raised his batting average to .500.