By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Trey Holmes returned home from Greenville with an MVP award and a clean apartment.
Holmes, a rising sophomore at Pitt Community College, helped lead Rowan County to an American Legion state title only a few miles from where he attends school.
Members of Rowan’s team stayed together at a Holiday Inn Express close to East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium, and Holmes’ parents slept at his four-bedroom apartment during the five-day event.
“There was a bunch of stuff just laying around,” Holmes said. “I went back the other day, and it doesn’t even look like my old apartment. They made it all nice and neat.”
Holmes thrived in familiar surroundings, batting .500 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in six games.
He hit a grand slam and three-run homer in the first five innings of a tournament-opening victory and accounted for Rowan’s final run with a solo homer in the fourth inning of a 5-3 win against Shelby on Wednesday. Former Rowan player Micah Jarrett found the home-run ball and presented it to Holmes’ father, Jimmy.Rowan reached the championship round with an unbeaten record thanks to an 8-7 win against Wilmington one night earlier. Gantt showed complete confidence in Holmes by giving him the green light on a 3-0 pitch with the bases loaded and two out as Rowan trailed 6-4 in the seventh inning. He lined a two-run single to center field.
“Thank goodness he was on our team,” Rowan coach Jim Gantt said.
Rowan counts on Holmes to make spectacular scoops at first base and produce at the top of the batting order, but he enhanced his value by becoming a vocal leader at a critical juncture.
A four-run ninth inning Wednesday afternoon pushed Shelby to a 7-3 victory that forced a winner-take-all finale, and Holmes spoke up as his team gathered in foul territory down the third-base line before the start of Game 2.
“I just feel like we came out like it didn’t mean anything to us,” said Holmes, who is tied for third in Rowan history with 23 home runs and ranks alone in third with 157 RBIs. “I decided after the first one that it wasn’t acceptable and we needed to pick it up if we wanted to go home with a championship.
“Usually that’s not me at all; usually I don’t say much. I guess that certain time, with what was at stake and I wanted it, I figured why not give it a shot and try to fire everybody else up.”
Starting pitcher Preston Troutman retired Shelby in order to begin the game, and Rowan scored twice in the bottom of the first inning.
Russell Michalec scored on a double by Zach Smith, who came home on Jon Crucitti’s sacrifice fly. Rowan’s players displayed high levels of emotion following the crossing of each run.
“When (Holmes) speaks up, they kind of listen to him,” Gantt said. “He does so much just by his actions ó he knows how to carry himself, and he knows how to play. He’s a leader, and he took the bull by the horns right before that game.”
Rowan reliever Billy Veal ended the game with a strikeout, turned immediately toward Holmes and braced himself for a hug from a fellow veteran. Holmes’ younger brother Noah, who batted .478 in the tournament, charged in from third base.
The trip to Greenville was certainly an enjoyable one for the siblings’ parents even though they put themselves to work at times.
“We were able to come and stay and do a little bit of cleaning, but it was in pretty good shape,” Jimmy Holmes said. “It’s great to be down in Greenville again. This is the only vacation we get as a family: a baseball outing. This place has been good.”