New Egypt baseball aiming for state tourney berth
BY MIKE WHITE Staff Writer
A young and inexperienced New Egypt High School baseball team has relied on the leadership and hot bat of Dylan Rowley to win eight of its first 13 games.

Rowley provided theWarriors with the key blow again Saturday, a two-run single in the first inning as, new Egypt rolled to a 6-3 win over Robbinsville at Waterfront Park. New Egypt erupted for six runs in the opening frame and never looked back behind starter and winnerMark Dellanoy.

"He (Rowley) has been ripping the cover off the ball," New Egypt coach Rich Carroll said. "He has provided this squad with the necessary punch in the lineup. It seems whenever we need a key hit lately, Dylan seems to be the one at bat.He is a very good situational hitter. He knows what he needs to do when he comes to the plate."

Rowley leads the teamin batting average (.455), doubles (7), and is tiedwith teammate DakotaHavens in runs batted inwith 13. In addition, Rowley has smacked a pair if triples and one home run.

Athree-year varsity player, Carroll has watched Rowley's talent blossom. The third baseman has polished his game year after year, Carroll said.

"He has improved somuch fromwhen he first came up," Carroll said. "It is clear he has put a lot of work into becoming a better baseball player. Right now, he is just in the zone at the plate. He is seeing the ball well and not chasing bad pitches. Hopefully, he continues to hit the way he has."

Despite being close to a .500 hitter, Rowley has cooled a bit. For the first two weeks of the season, Rowley was up over .600.

"He got off to an unbelievable start," Carroll said. "He looked real comfortable at the plate. He's got an effortless looking swing. Anything thatwas in the strike zone, hewas driving. It isn't often a kid comes out of the blocks with that kind of start."

Senior Mark Delannoy tossed six innings to earn the win over Robbinsville. Delannoy struck out nine and managed to stay out of trouble until the sixth. Freshman Rigo Morfin closed out the seventh.

"Delannoy was real solid for us," Carroll said. "He stayed ahead in the count and did a nice job of hitting spots. His change of speeds kept the Robbinsville lineup off balance for most of the game."

Carroll was particularly impressed with Delannoy's mettle after suffering a tough loss againstMaple Shade last Tuesday.

"It was nice to see him come out and compete," Carroll said. "He had a tough loss against Maple Shade. He didn't have his best outing. For him to bounce back and pitch on a big stage here at Waterfront Park was great to see."

Delannoy aided his own cause with an RBI single in the opening inning. Dan Leutwyler had an RBI single as well.

Havens is the team's No. 1 starter. He owns a record of 2-1 overall.An elbowinjury at the start of the season forced Havens to attack batters with an alternate style.

"It's funny how things work out, but I feel he is pitching more now as opposed to trying to overpower hitters," Carroll said. "Now he is really working to set batters up with a change of speeds and using the corners. I think he has grown tremendously as a pitcher."

With an overall mark of 8-5, New Egypt is hopeful of earning a berth into the state tournament.