By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
LEXINGTON ó Casey Little left Holt-Moffitt Field with a satisfied grin and a filthy brown uniform that may require two boxes of Tide and two cups of Clorox to get reasonably clean.
In the modern baseball vocabulary Little is a “dirt dog.” He spent most of Rowan’s easy 13-1 victory against short-handed Lexington climbing hills and diving into bases.
As Rowan’s fifth outfielder, Little knows he won’t play a lot, but with Billy Veal pitching and Jon Crucitti at the State Games, he got a chance to start Thursday. The East Rowan graduate made the most of his shot with three hits and four RBIs.
“I got a chance to play, it was a big moment for me and I had a good night,” Little said. “I’m not a big power hitter or anything, so my game is hustle.”
Hustle is good. Rowan coach Jim Gantt noticed.
“Casey ran the bases well and had good at-bats,” he said. “That two-run single he got up the middle in the seventh inning was the biggest hit all night. Up until then, our pitchers were in jams and Lexington was on the verge of getting back into it.”
Zach Smith and Corbin Shive pounded homers for Rowan. Veal worked 51/3 innings and earned the win with relief help from Cody Laws and Alex Litaker.
In theory, it was a game for first place, but while Rowan (9-3, 6-2) was missing Crucitti and shortstop Preston Troutman, Lexington (8-4, 6-4) was missing its sticks ó Alex Grubb, Jordan Hudson and Zach Joyce ó due to post-graduation vacations.
“The bulk of their team wasn’t here ó half of ’em were at the beach,” Gantt said. “The only thing I’m disappointed with is that our pitchers didn’t fill up the strike zone more than they did with their lineup weakened.”
Rowan banged out 19 hits, including 11 in three innings against Catawba right-hander Clay Watson, who started on the mound for Post 8.
Philip Miclat’s sharp, one-out single through the box and Smith’s two-run homer past the the flagpole in left-center got Rowan jump-started in the first inning.
“He threw me a fastball middle in, and I hit it,” Smith said. “It seemed like everyone picked up their hitting after that.”
Ethan Fisher, getting a chance to start with Troutman missing, cracked a two-out single that scored Shive for a 3-0 lead before Watson could escape the first inning.
Smith added a run-scoring single in the second. Shive’s towering solo homer and a bloop RBI single by Little made it 6-0 in the third.
Veal (2-0) pitched his way out of trouble in the first. He walked batters back-to-back in the fifth ó No. 9 hitter Clark Beeker walked on a tenacious 12-pitch at-bat ó but catcher Austin Shull picked a runner off second base to defuse the threat.
After Lexington got its lone run in the sixth on two walks, a passed ball and relief pitcher Joe Tippett’s sac fly, Little answered with his two-run single to put the game away.
Russell Michalec’s two-run double keyed a four-run eighth that enabled Rowan to win by the 10-run rule.
n
NOTES: Rowan has a big home game tonight against Mooresville, although the Moors won’t be at full strength because of injuries and post-graduation trips. … Rowan swept the season series from Post 8. … Rowan first baseman Trey Holmes produced the 127th and 128th hits of his Legion career. His brother, Noah, also had two hits. … Shive crossed the plate four times even though he had only one hit. He reached base twice via a fielder’s choice and also was hit by a pitch. … Every starter had at least one hit for Rowan. … Shive (1-0, 1.93 ERA) is the likely starting pitcher for Rowan tonight at Newman Park.