By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LILLINGTON — There were some reasons to lose on Thursday — 11 runners left on base, plus a missed call that erased three runs from the scoreboard.

But Rowan County is still plugging away in the American Legion baseball state tourney,

The eight-team field that gathered at Jim Perry Stadium on the Campbell University campus has been cut down now to four. After losing in Tuesday’s opening round to Wayne County, Rowan was placed in a difficult position and still isn’t in an ideal one, although things are looking up.

Rowan won an ugly 11-4 elimination game with Cherryville on Wednesday and persevered through adversity for a 6-2 elimination victory against Pitt County on Thursday. Also still alive and kicking in the tournament are Wayne County, High Point and Fuquay-Varina.

While he didn’t get credit for the win, Rowan got good starting pitching from Corbin Bailey (5 innings, 5 strikeouts, 5 hits, 3 walks) on Thursday and his defense helped him by turning two Pitt grounders into double plays.

The starting pitcher’s job is to give his team a chance to win, and Bailey did that. He shut out Pitt County for the first four innings. It was a 2-all game when he left the mound.

Winner Alex Hagler pitched an adventurous sixth. He allowed three singles, but Pitt County could only advance one base at a time, and Hagler got a pressurized third out on a groundball to third base with the bases loaded to keep it 2-all.

Rowan (39-6) didn’t hit much, especially with men on base, but took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Elijah Palmer looped a single, Matthew Connolly’s single found a hole with Palmer in motion, and Luke Graham got an infield hit. Then Morgan Padgett walked with the bases loaded for a run.

Hayden Simmerson launched a three-run homer down the left-field line in the top of the fifth, but to the dismay of Rowan coaches, players and fans, Simmerson’s shot was ruled foul. Instead of 4-0 it was still 1-0. Simmerson struck out, but Rowan did get a run for a 2-0 lead on a two-out miscue on a hard-hit ball by Aiden Schenck.

Pitt County finally broke through against Bailey in the bottom of the fifth when Mason Hobbs whacked a two-out, two-run triple to right field to tie the game at 2-all.

Neither team scored in a tense sixth.

Rowan put together a winning rally in the seventh that was keyed by two Pitt County errors.

Padgett walked on a 3-and-2 pitch to start the inning.

When Simmerson topped the ball in front of the plate, a wild throw allowed Rowan runners to sprint for a while. Padgett scored from first to give Rowan a 3-2 lead, while Simmerson went all the way to third.

Simmerson scored on an error on Schenck’s groundball to make it 4-2.

Blake Hill singled — the only hit Rowan had in that four-run inning — and Cole Johnson walked to load the bases. Rowan made it 5-2 when Palmer was hit in the helmet by a pitch. Connolly’s sacrifice fly made it 6-2.

After that wild top of the seventh, Graham relieved Hagler and enjoyed a quiet 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

Wayne County eliminated defending champ Wilmington 9-7 on Thursday evening, scoring the decisive runs on an error in the seventh.

Fuquay-Varina shut down High Point 6-1 on Thursday.

Rowan will play again on Friday against unbeaten Fuquay-Varina at 7:30 p.m.

High Point plays Wayne County in a 4:30 p.m. elimination game.