By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LILLINGTON — Rowan County has never failed to win a game in the American Legion baseball state tournament, but that’s a proud streak that will be challenged on Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m. when Rowan tries to stay alive in the double-elimination event against Area IV champion Cherryville.

Nothing went right on Tuesday for the Area III champions, who are making their 14th appearance in the state tournament. Rowan fell 4-1 to Wayne County.

Rowan pitching ace Hayden Simmerson was under the weather, his velocity well down from its usual level. Rowan was on the wrong side of a multitude of bang-bang calls. Rowan couldn’t get the big hit when opportunity finally knocked in the sixth inning.

That was a losing combination for Rowan (37-6), which ran into a Wayne County team that played brilliant defense, made every possible play to back its pitchers and executed the little-ball game superbly in a decisive top of the sixth.

After Simmerson issued a walk in the fourth, Nathan Smith smashed a double off the left-field wall, just missing a homer, and Wayne County took a 1-0 lead.

Simmerson’s fastballs were registering 86s on the radar at Jim Perry Stadium at Campbell University, a sure sign that all wasn’t right with him. He battled through four innings, left the game trailing 1-0 and took his first loss of the summer to go along with seven victories. Corbin Bailey relieved Simmerson to start the fifth.

The bad karma started for Rowan’s offense very early. JT Taylor hammered a pitch over the right fielder’s head leading off the bottom of the first, but was called out at third trying for a triple. Even normally stoic Rowan coach Jim Gantt was not pleased by that call, and it definitely hurt. Had he been safe at third with no outs, there was about a 95 percent chance that Taylor would have scored a go-ahead run.

Instead, Wayne County starting pitcher Gabe Adams shut down Rowan through the first five innings. It was still 1-0 Wayne through five.

In the top of the sixth, Wyatt Lassiter opened with a bunt single for Wayne County. Then Lane MxLean also bunted successfully. Rowan third baseman Luke Graham charged and made a strong throw, but the call was safe on a close play at first.

With two on and no outs, Wayne bunted again, with Mason Moffett pushing a bunt toward first base. Morgan Padgett fielded the ball in good shape and tried to throw across the diamond to get the lead runner at third. That’s a tough play to execute, and Rowan didn’t. The throw got away, it was 2-0, and Wayne had two more men in scoring position. They got both of them home, one on a sacrifice fly and one on a ground ball to short. JT Taylor came home with that one, and Cameron Burleyson applied the tag at the plate, but the runner was deemed safe on another bang-bang, and it was 4-0.

Things were going the wrong way, but Rowan still had every opportunity to turn the game around in the bottom of the sixth.

Adams was tiring. Taylor doubled to lead off the inning before Blake Hill and Graham walked to fill the bases with no outs. Rowan was getting into the middle of a normally powerful lineup, although it was a lineup that was now minus Simmerson.

Reliever Casey Culbreth threw a wild pitch that allowed Taylor to score Rowan’s only run, but he was stingy after that.

Culbreth struck out Padgett for a huge first out.

After Aiden Schenck walked to reload the bases, Rowan was at the No. 6 spot in the lineup. That would’ve been Simmerson, the hero of the Area III championship series, but now it was Bailey, who rarely bats. Matthew Connolly pinch hit for Bailey and Wayne County turned a double play on Connolly’s bouncer up the middle. That was the single biggest play of the game.

Alex Hagler got Wayne out quickly in the top of the seventh.

Elijah Palmer had a double in the Rowan seventh, but Wayne got the final out it needed when Taylor’s towering fly ball to left stayed in the park.

Rowan had only three hits on the day and couldn’t take advantage of six walks and one HBP.

Wayne, which is seeking the first state championship in program history, will play in a winner’s bracket game on Wednesday night against Cherryville or Fuquay-Varina.