By Mike Duprez
sports@salisburypost.com
LEXINGTON ó Successfully adapting to situations can be considered a hallmark of a good baseball program. If thatís the case, Lexington passed the test Thursday night at Holt-Moffitt Field.
Clark Beeker went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and combined with Andrew Everhart and Andrew Mayton on a two-hitter as Lexington shut out former division rival South Rowan 4-0 in an American Legion game shortened to six innings due to lightning.
It wasnít so good for slumping South Rowan, which fell to 2-9. Besides only get two hits, a pair of defensive gaffes by South Rowan led directly to two Lexington-Davidson runs.
ěBeeker did a good job early,î said South Rowan coach Mike Lowman. ěHeís a legitimate arm. I thought we would do some more damage against the other two guys they brought in. Weíve been in kind of a hitting funk all year.î
Legion baseball is usually dominated by hitting so the shutout, Post 8ís second of the year, was something to appreciate.
ěWe donít get those very often in this league,î said Lexington-Davidson coach Chris Sotriffer, whose team is now 6-4. ěAll in all, a good game. Beek came in and gave us three good innings.î
Beeker allowed one hit and struck out three. Andrew Everhart (1-1) allowed one hit in 22/3 innings to get the win. Mayton retired both batters he faced.
Leading 2-0, Post 8 took advantage of a South Rowan miscue to push across another run in the bottom of the fifth. Smith singled with one out and Franklin drew a walk. Beeker then hit a foul popup which was dropped by South Rowan pitcher Jordan Kennerly. That kept Beekerís at-bat going and he made South Rowan pay by driving a single to center, scoring Smith and giving Post 8 a 3-0 lead. Patrick Hampton came on in relief of Kennerly and induced an inning-ending double play.
Gunnar Hogan doubled down the line left field line with one out in the sixth. Kyle Bridges hit a deep fly to straight center which was hauled in up the embankment by center fielder Kevin Goss. Hogan tagged up and went to third but was stranded there as the second baseman Franklin did a nice job going back to snag Maverick Milesí bloop to right.
South Rowan finally showed some offensive life in the top of the seventh when Joseph Basinger and Jacob Dietz walked to start the inning. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and Dylan Walker delivered a sacrifice fly to cut Lexington-Davidsonís lead to 4-1. But the play was stopped immediately stopped right after that because of lightning and never resumed. That took South Rowanís run off the board as the game reverted back to six innings.
Hampton gave up two hits and an unearned run with a strikeout and no walks in 11/3 innings.