Staff report

SALISBURY — Ten runs should be enough to win any baseball game.

That wasn’t the case on Tuesday at Newman Park for Rowan County in NC3 league action. Rowan was outscored by Mocksville, 12-10, in a game that lasted more than three hours.

Mocksville banged out 17 hits against six Rowan pitchers. Starter Dylan Driver was knocked out by Mocksville’s six-run second inning and took the loss.

Mocksville (4-6, 2-3) beat Rowan (11-2, 2-1) for the second time this season. The first time Rowan lost it rested many regulars, but that wasn’t the case in this league game. Mocksville out-pitched, out-hit, and especially, out-fielded Rowan.

Rowan made four key errors, while Mocksville played a flawless game in the field.

It was a strange game with a strange ending. With Rowan trailing by two runs, Mocksville catcher Aaron Williams threw out CP Pyle trying to steal third base for the final out.

Pyle had a big game with the bat, scorching two doubles and driving in four runs.

Cole Hales singled, doubled and tripled. Ryan Street also had three hits for Rowan.

Mocksville lead-off batter Ty Staz had four hits, collected two doubles and scored three runs. Williams, a Catawba signee, had three hits and scored three times. Logan Hosch knocked in three runs. Troy Clary had three hits and drove in four.

Rowan led 3-1 after a bottom of the first that featured a two-out RBI double by Casey Gouge that was followed by a two-run double by Pyle.

But then Mocksville batted around in the second. Hosch’s two-run single and Clary’s two-run double keyed the big inning. Mocksville led 7-3, and while Rowan would get close after that, it never quite caught up.

The deficit was 9-3 before Rowan did any more damage against Mocksville curveballer Joe Gaither. Wayne Mize singled home a run in the fifth to make it 9-4.

Rowan got within 9-8 with a four-run sixth. After the 7-8-9 batters got on base, Charlie Klingler cut the gap to 9-5 with a run-scoring groundout. Hales plated two with the triple to deep center that finally knocked out Gaither. Mize’s sacrifice fly got Hales home.

Mocksville reliever Brett Johnson, who earned a save, proved a handful for Rowan hitters in the seventh, as momentum changed again, and Mocksville tacked on three big insurance runs in the eighth with the help of a Rowan miscue to take a 12-8 lead.

The bottom of the ninth started in promising fashion for Rowan with a double by Jordan Goodine, an infield hit by pinch-hitter Caden Hudson and a two-run double by Pyle to slice Mocksville’s advantage to 12-10. That brought the tying run to the plate, but two popups and the caught stealing ended the Rowan threat.

Rowan used Logan Rogers, Scout Nichols, Jonathan Spry, Bryson Wagner and Kaleb Burleyson in relief.

Rowan hosts Kannapolis at 7 p.m. tonight.

 

Mocksville  160  110  030 — 12   17  0

Rowan        300  014  002  — 10  14   4

HR — None.

W — Gaither. L — Driver. S — B. Johnson.