3A Championship Series - Rocky Mount vs. East Rowan

The three best teams we played this year

were Rocky Mount , Greenville Rose and Orange HS. All three will play for state titles this weekend. All three had the same things in common as teams. #1 - 1-9 they can hit quality pitching. #2 - They were all three very good on defense. #3 - They all had pitchers that could pitch in reverse and throw strikes. #4 - They all have outstanding coaches in RV , Dean Dease and Pat Smith.

 

Best of luck to ER

From a Mooresville native. Our loss was and is still tough to swallow, but I hope you win that title to represent the NPC this year. Some of the best baseball in the state was played night in and night out in our conference. That tough conference prepares you to make a run in the post season as many of our teams did. Go get them East. It's our turn next year.

 

Just wondering what Mooresville and ER did during the regular season?? I know that ER has that great comeback during the playoffs. Mooresville seems to be very strong as well.

 

East beat Mooresville 3 times. The scores were 6-3, 10-1, and 5-4.

Mooresville finished the year at 21-6, I believe.

Both teams will be strong again next year, but East still should have the upper hand since they only graduate 3 players. Mooresville loses their top two pitchers in Aubrey Meadows (UNCC signee) and Chris Beaver (James Madison--football). Both teams have extremely deep pipelines on their jayvee team and in middle school.

 

This kid deserves a ton of credit

Leggett's shoulder doesn't slow down Rocky Mount High's ace


By H. Williams Kellenberger
Rocky Mount Telegram

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

With his first pitch of the night, Jim Leggett felt the pain.

The Rocky Mount High senior was on the mound against Northern Nash for the last time, on April 18, when it happened.

2008 STATS: 7-3 overall, 1.39 ERA, 51K, 50 hits in 66 innings. TORN LABRUM: Leggett suffered what doctors believe is a torn labrum in his right shoulder on April 18. He is not experiencing any pain.


He didn't know what "it" was yet. So he gritted out the next seven innings. He threw a two-hit shutout that night, and coach Pat Smith praised his fastball.

Smith did not yet know what was wrong, because Leggett did not tell anyone until the game was over.

When he finally did, there was an instantaneous reaction. He was taken to Greenville, where an MRI was taken.

The result of that test was not good.

A torn labrum. In his right shoulder. His throwing shoulder.

The labrum is cartilage that forms a cup, at the shoulder, for the end of the arm bone (humerus) to move within the shoulder, providing stability.

That all sounds important, and it is.

But the doctors told Leggett he could pitch, and he has.

"He's been told any pain – quit," Smith said. "So far he hasn't complained about any pain or anything hurting him."

Leggett came back two weeks later and pitched seven innings of one-run ball against Wilson Fike. In the second round of the state playoffs, he shut down Southern Lee.

Last week, with a berth in the regional finals on the line, Leggett needed 61 pitches to shut out Fike.

That all sounds remarkable, and it is.

As long as Leggett resists the temptation to really throw his fastball 100 percent, where it has been clocked at 86 mph, throwing does not cause him pain, he said. He's able to pitch at 85 percent, he said, and obviously has been effective doing so.

Surgery is scheduled for June 20, though he and his father are talking about getting a second opinion before then. There's a possibility that the doctors could begin the surgery, and see that a torn labrum is not the problem, as well.

As recently as four years ago, a torn labrum was seen as the end to a pitcher's career. Robb Nen, one of the better closers in the major leagues for 10 years, suffered the injury in 2002 and never pitched again.

Ryan Franklin, seen (at 6-foot-10) as the next Randy Johnson at one time, never regained his prior prowess on the mound. He has, however, become an efficient relief pitcher.

But, like so many conditions and subsequent surgeries, surgery is able to correct more and more, and rehabilitiation is taking less time. What was once a years-long process can now take months.

Gil Meche had the surgery, came back and pitched well enough to earn a $55 million contract from Kansas City.

It's still by no means a quick procedure and recovery, but there has been no talk that MLB stars Kelvin Escobar and Gary Sheffield's careers are over.

Leggett's career is not over, either.

When the diagnosis was made, he did have to tell the colleges that were recruiting him about what had happened.

The news basically ended his chances of going Division I straight out of high school; those coaches advised him to go to a junior college.

But Belmont-Abbey was still interested. The Division II school won 41 games this season, advancing into the NCAA Tournament.

They told Leggett he was still the pitcher they were looking for.

"I still have the same offer and everything," Leggett said.

If the surgery does happen, Leggett is looking at a year of rehab, which means a redshirt season.

"It scares me," Leggett said. "I've never been a year without playing. It's going to be weird, and it might be weird when I first come back."

 

He's an amazing young man and one heckuva competitor...and ultimately, he found that being a great pitcher does not equate with velocity.

Also, kudo's to Belmont Abbey for taking the position they did. It says a lot about their program and speaks well of their coaches.

 

I have a friend who was a third baseman that had the same injury. Played through it for a year. Was fine, just took a lot of ibuprofen, but lost a lot of velocity. He had surgery to fix the labrum, but is was discovered that he had damaged his rotator cuff while throwing with the injured labrum over the rest of the year. Doc said the the rotator cuff was compensating for the injured labrum. He was never the same and had to move to 2nd base.

Kudos to Belmont Abbey for sticking by the kid.

 

so basically, they told him it was alright to pitch until it started hurting?

 

Jim Leggett - team player and class act

Jim's been mighty good to the younger players on the team. He's been an asset to the program for 4 years, and this year, he's given an outstanding effort on the mound whenever needed. Everyone cheered this year when he had the additional opportunity to take his spot in the field and at the plate. As a pitcher he's got excellent control, hits his spots really well and exhibits exceptional poise on the mound. He's one of the most unselfish young men I've ever met, both on and off of the baseball field. He works hard, plays hard, and shares the glory with his team mates unselfishly. Belmont Abbey has scored a real gem and we wish him all the best!

 

Why?

Why would a young man in Jims posistion continue to toe the hill for his high school team? Why wouldnt he just shut it down for the rest of the year and heal up and get ready for college baseball?

Because he is Jim Leggett. Because he knows his team needs him. Because he loves Rocky Mount baseball. Because he loves his team mates. And because he understands what it means to play baseball at a place like Rocky Mount. In a day and age where so many kids are all about what someone or some thing can do for them Jim is all about what he can do for others.

I have been very fortunate to get to know Jim over the last few years. I have never met a more polite , humble and considerate young man in my life. And you will not find anyone put on a uniform and compete any harder than Jim will. He will lay it on the line Friday for Rocky Mount. Not for himself because he doesnt think like that. No he will lay it on the line for his team , his coaches and his home town. And you can bet I will be there watching one of the most courageous young men I have ever met in my life. And you can bet that he will give everything he has to help his team find a way to win. But win or lose the game on Friday , Jim Leggett is a winner. In every way imaginable.

I know his dad is proud of him. Hell , Im proud of him. He is everything anyone could ever want in a son. And he is everything any coach would ever want in a player. Our state motto is "To be rather than to seem." Yep that sums Jim up real good.