Staff report

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Rowan Little League softball manager Brett Mulkey got a win — but it came in the team Pingpong tournament, not on the diamond at Stallings Stadium.

“Only Hurricane Debby is winning right now,” Mulkey said on Wednesday afternoon. “Our girls are in the dorm, playing board games and having some pretty serious Pingpong tournaments. My wife (Coach Jac White Mulkey) didn’t get in the Pingpong tournament. She’s getting some work done.”

Brett Mulkey, a fine athlete in his high school days at North Rowan, proved he’s still got it on the Pingpong table. Rowan’s 12U girls have caught been catching line drives for weeks, but they couldn’t handle his forehand.

Asked to identify the best Pingpong player on the squad — other than himself — Mulkey took a long pause before answering, ‘Well, Mary Kate Okula was my opponent in the final. She was a little mad at me, said she would have been the champion if I hadn’t gotten in.'”

Those Rowan girls are always competitive.

The two late games were washed out on Tuesday, were rescheduled for early Wednesday, and were promptly washed out again.

The schedule is a mess right now. How it will all shake out is unknown.

Rowan was fortunate to get its second game of the tournament in early on Tuesday and smacked the Idaho champs 9-0 in an elimination contest.

The most exciting play for Southeast Regional champ Rowan was a triple into the left-center gap by Tenley Shell that rolled all the way to the wall. Shell beat the throw to third with an aggressive slide and headed for home when the throw got away.

Khloe Ratliff had a two-run double. Okula and Jaycee Small had key hits.

“We’ve got two outs and nobody on base in the first inning and next thing you know we’ve got ourselves a 6-0 lead,” Mulkey said. “We pitched well, played well, got the bats going a little bit.”

Rowan lost 2-0 on Monday night to Ohio. It was 0-0 until the fourth. Ohio scored twice in the fourth, with the tie-breaking run scoring on a squeeze.

“I think Ohio has to be one of the favorites,” Mulkey said. “They were here last year and they have seven returners from that team. Their pitcher was really tough, 13 strikeouts, and we only had two baserunners all night. We pitched well, played solid defense, just couldn’t get the offense going. But we haven’t shown any jitters. The girls have handled everything that’s come their way. I’ve been really proud of how well we’ve played.”

Rowan is supposed to take on the winner of the Mexico-Canada game next, assuming that game can ever be completed.

If Rowan can get past that game against international opposition, it’s going to be in a really tough quarterfinal matchup against either Ohio or Louisiana, whoever loses their upcoming battle. Like Ohio, Louisiana has an overpowering pitcher.

“Those girls are throwing 62, 63 mph,” Mulkey said. “At our distance, that’s the equivalent of a baseball player facing a fastball at 95, 96.”

Host Pitt County is in the opposite bracket from Rowan and has won its first two games.

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The Rowan team includes Evee Baxter, Harper Deal, Megan Linebarger, Mak Melchor, Peyton Mulkey, Mary Kate Okula, Ashlynn Pfister, Leniyah Ratcliffe, Khloe Ratliff, Tenley Shell, Jaycee Small, Bristol Smith and Emory Stewart.

Brett Mulkey is the manager. Coaches are Jac Mulkey and Jeff Bernhardt.