Rowan rally takes down Lexington
(Reported by Will Robinson)
Down 7 - 1 in the fifth inning to a good Lexington team, Rowan Legion rallied to score 11 unanswered runs to defeat Lexington Region 12 - 7.
Lee Dupre was the player of the game, winning the game in relief of Cy Young. After giving up a homer to the first batter he faced, Dupre shut down Lexington over the final 5 innings, striking out 12, and the Rowan offense took care of the rest.
Lexington opened hot - scoring three runs in the first inning on RBI hits by Zach Briggs (scoring Chaz Frank) and Matt Tysinger (scoring Briggs), and a bases loaded walk to Andrew Hunt (scoring Daniel Kasoof). Rowan got one run back in the second inning after Micah Jarret doubled off the wall, and ultimately scored on an error. Lexington came right back with a run in the third as Kasoof, Zach Roach, and Hunt reached safely to load the bases, and Jay Yount hit a sacrifice fly to score Kasoof. Lexington increased their lead to 7 - 1 in the fourth as Tysinger and Roach slugged back to back home runs, but that would be the end of the Lexington offense.
In the fifth, Rowan started hitting the ball like they have most of the year - hard and often. After singles by Cranford, Ridenhour, and Church, Holmes hit a two-run double to left-center, and then Jarrett hit a sacrifice fly to score Church, cutting the Lexington lead in half. The Rowan rally continued in the 7th, as Ridenhour and Church base hits again set the table, and Ross Steedly plated them both with a clutch, two-out double, and then Jacob Dobbins drove in Steedly to tie the game. Rowan took the lead in the 8th as Weston Church put an exclamation point on the night by smashing a monster three-run home run to score Justin Roland and Ridenhour. A Dobbins double scored Jarrett and Hall to provide some insurance, but Lee Dupre did not need it, striking out the side in the ninth. After the game, Will Robinson caught up with both Dupre (MP3 file of interview) and Head Coach Jim Gantt (MP3 file of interview) .
