LANDIS — South Rowan’s baseball team hasn’t been perfect this season, just good when it’s needed to be.
The Raiders’ unblemished record moved to 6-0 Thursday with a 10-1 win against Salisbury at home. It’s hard to feel dominant when you make four errors, but South gained confidence in another hurler and had one of its better offensive games to date. Starting pitcher Blake Johnson got South in good position late in the game and the Raiders gained separation with a six-run sixth.
“We try and keep it in perspective,” South coach Thad Chrismon said. “Our goal is to come out and try to get better every game. We’re just taking it day-by-day and we’ll worry about the record later.”
Johnson, a sophomore up from jayvee, is the sixth different South pitcher to earn a win. He spread five hits over five innings, walking none while striking out a pair. It was his second varsity start.
“I threw pretty good,” Johnson said. “All our pitchers are throwing well, so we’re happy.”
Eric Stowe drove in three runs on three hits and Austin Corriher doubled and stole two bases as South scored double-digit runs for the second time.
Salisbury pitcher Riley Myers held South in check for the first three frames but allowed a double to Chandler Corriher and a infield single to Stowe to start the fourth. Eric Goldston would walk to load the bases with two out and Burke Fulcher fisted a single into shallow left field to plate two runs and give South the lead.
“While Riley was on the mound, we played pretty well,” Salisbury coach Scott Maddox said. “We were out front on their pitcher and he did a pretty good job.”
Leadoff hitter Tyler Fuller tripled to lead off the fifth and scored on Chandler Corriher’s groundout. Austin Corriher reached on a error and scored on one for a 4-1 lead. South’s first seven batters reached in the sixth and Stowe cleared a bases-loaded situation with a triple.
Harper Miller singled and scored to give SHS (1-4) a short-lived lead in the fourth. Alex Yang was the only Hornet with two hits.
South plays West Rowan Friday in the SPC while Salisbury plays Statesville Saturday.