KANNAPOLIS — There was definitely some historical irony involved Saturday when Cherryville Post 100 defeated Rowan County 4-1.

Not only did Cherryville improve to 6-0 for the current season, but Cherryville coach Bobby Dale Reynolds set the record for all-time wins in North Carolina American Legion baseball history. Ironically Reynolds broke the longstanding record held by Rowan County legendary coach Joe Ferebee.

Ferebee won 694 games in a 40-year career with Salisbury and Rowan County and a pair of area Legion teams that ended in 1989. Reynolds started in 1988, and in the years since has posted a remarkable 695-324 record including five state titles and two runner-up finishes in the Legion World Series.

“I really didn’t know what my record was until recently,” Reynolds said after the game. “But I have been in this thing a long time. When you have longevity and get good players, sometimes you can get some wins. But you can’t do it without good players.”

Both Ferebee and Reynolds are members of the American legion baseball Hall of Fame.

The coaching careers of Reynolds and Ferebee overlapped one year, but the Cherryville coach is well aware of the noted accomplishments of Ferebee  in his distinguished tenure.

“I Googled him and read a lot about him back last fall because I wanted to know all about his background,” Reynolds said. “Plus I am well aware first hand of the quality program Rowan has had over the years.”

When you coach over 1,000 legion games like Reynolds has, you also win games a lot of  different ways. Saturday’s victory, part of a triple header Legion Spring Fling at Northwest Cabarrus High hosted by Kannapolis Post 115, was definitely not pretty but still had a positive outcome.

Post 100 managed just six hits and all four of its runs were unearned. It also used a large committee of pitchers that gave up nine hits and  issued seven walks but also got the big strikeout or a key double play when it mattered.

It was a fact not lost on Rowan assistant coach Seth Graham, who is running the team until coach Jim Gantt returns from Catawba College’s NCAA Division II National Championship journey.

“We were just lackadaisical,” Graham said. “Nobody showed up to play, and we just had no effort. It takes no talent to give effort. So we have just got to work harder in practice. In a nine-inning ball game, you just have to score more than one run.”

A sign of things to come for Rowan County played out in the first inning when Cherryville starter Brandon Alexander issued four walks to make it 1-0. But a strikeout and a double play squashed any potential of a big inning.

When Rowan left the bases loaded in the second without scoring, the trend was established.

Post 100 scored a pair of unearned runs in the third off starting pitcher Omar Bautista despite two force outs at the plate. Christopher Proctor nailed a clutch two-out, two-run single to give Cherryville a 2-1 lead it never relinquished.

“I felt good out there and was satisfied with my performance,” said Bautista of his first Legion start covered six innings. “But we just haven’t hit the ball yet. We just have to try and keep moving forward and getting better.”

Over the final eight innings, Cherryville used five pitchers who shut out Rowan County on six hits while striking out nine. Righty Trevor Spurling went the final 2-1/3 innings to earn the save for winning pitcher Alec Johnson. Spurling also iced the win in the top of the ninth when Post 100 loaded the bases on three walks. He greeted reliever Heath Mitchem with a two-out, two-run single to make it 4-1.

“We thought Trevor Spurling deserved to end the game for us because of the way he pitched,” Reynolds said. “All of our pitchers did an effective job, and they carried us today.”

Rowan gets right back into Area III action Sunday night at Davidson County and returns to Newman Park on Monday to face Mooresville.

Cherryville  002 000 002 — 4 6 0

Rowan County100 000 000 — 1 9 4

WP —Alec Johnson. LP —Omar Bautista (0-1). S — Trevor Spurling (1).