By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
FARGO, N.D. ó Three months have passed since the American Legion baseball season began, and it ended Tuesday in sunny North Dakota.
Rowan County nearly reached the finish line.
Rowan qualified for the World Series and placed third in the eight-team tournament at Newman Outdoor Field. Midland (Mich.) beat Rowan on Monday night and won 11-4 against Medford (Ore.) in a title game yesterday afternoon.
“Nobody ever thought we’d make it this far,” said relief pitcher Alex Litaker, who closed out Rowan’s last two games in Fargo. “Coming into the year we knew we had a good team, but I don’t think anybody in the world knew we were this good.
“It’s been the ride of my life, and I’ll never forget this. I’ll never forget these guys.”
Rowan opened with a 17-0 victory against Randolph County on May 19, and a 15-14 loss to Midland left Jim Gantt’s team with a final record of 39-10.
Postseason games comprised 60 percent of the summer ó Rowan entered the Area III playoffs as a No. 1 seed with a 16-4 mark. It swept Mocksville, then required four games apiece to eliminate Stanly County and Randolph.
Having secured a third straight appearance in the state tournament, Rowan captured its first Area III title since 2002 by sweeping a best-of-three set with Mooresville.
From there, Rowan won its first seven games when a loss would have ended its season. It fell behind 12-0 against Midland before rallying in the final four innings.
Rowan almost pulled off the greatest comeback in World Series history. New Orleans trailed 7-0 after seven innings of a 1983 game and pulled out an 11-7 win against Natick (Mass.).
“Once they got up 12-0, we didn’t quit,” said Trey Holmes, the first baseman on the all-tournament team. “I was proud of us. We kept fighting and came up on the short end, but we battled. We battled hard.”
Rowan went 5-1 at East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, defeating Shelby to win its first state championship since 2002.
Rowan completed the Southeast Regional at Riley Park with the same record despite losing on Day 2 to fellow finalist Tuscaloosa (Ala.). Victories against tournament host Sumter (S.C.) and Tuscaloosa on the final day of competition clinched a World Series berth.
A two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Festus (Mo.) to a walkoff win against Rowan in its opener, but victories against Mt. Airy (Md.) and defending champion Southern Nevada followed.
The Rowan program was also one of the final four still playing in 1955 and 1996.
“This is just a huge accomplishment by the whole team,” second baseman Philip Miclat said. “All the hard work we put in for the season for us to not come up short, nobody really thought we were going to get this far. It was a pleasure playing here.”
Rowan recorded three shutouts at the Southeast Regional and set a single-season program record with 66 home runs. Zach Smith homered in support of unbeaten pitcher Forrest Buchanan (10-0) against Mt. Airy, and Jon Crucitti’s homer ignited a comeback against Southern Nevada.
The hitting of Noah Holmes and miraculous relief effort from Litaker ó who escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam with Rowan on the brink of elimination ó helped produce one final victory.
“I just remember having so much durn fun and the guys playing hard,” Gantt said after the loss to Midland. “I remember the fans, even tonight, they didn’t want us to give up. That’s the best thing about it.”