Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993                   TAG: 9306020004
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BLUE ROCKS STOP BUCS 5-3

With a ninth-inning rally brewing Monday, Jeff Conger tried to dash from second to home when Wilmington's Shane Halter booted what would have been the third out on a ground ball by Jon Farrell.

Halter picked up the ball and sent it to Blue Rocks catcher Chad Strickland, who neatly tagged Conger for the final out in Wilmington's 5-3 victory at Salem's Municipal Field.

"I don't want to get into it. He's [Conger] embarrassed enough," Salem manager Scott Little said.

While Salem might not have won the game if Conger had stayed

at third, the Bucs would have had a good chance to score with Ken Bonifay, the club's hottest hitter, at the plate next.

"I don't know; maybe the manager's bad," Little said when asked about a string of baffling decisions by the Bucs while running the bases. "The kids are trying as hard as they can. Everyone knows when you screw up. They know it. . . . They have a lot to learn."

This was Salem's fourth consecutive loss and sixth in the past seven games. This time, the bullpen didn't have to take the blame.

Starter Dennis Konuszewski (0-8) got the loss but had perhaps his best outing with seven good innings. Reliever Mark Mesewicz gave up one run but still held the score close for two innings.

"The bullpen is being run out there every night, and I wouldn't expect them to do as well as they have," said Little. "I've had to throw them out there three times in four days or four times in five days. I'm worried about whether they'll get hurt, not whether they'll get [give up a] hit."

Salem got some late clutch hitting. Conger doubled in one run in the seventh, and Joe Ronca doubled in another in the eighth. Ronca's double bounced over the right-field wall, forcing Mike Brown, who was on first, to stop at third or else Salem would have trailed by only one run.

\ BUCSHOTS: Keith Thomas has been recalled by the Carolina Mudcats in the Double A Southern League. Thomas hit .266 with four homers at Salem after being demoted from Carolina. "Now he has a chance to get back in Pittsburgh's good graces," said Little . . . Salem catcher Angelo Encarnacion got the heave-ho in the ninth for arguing with plate umpire Joel Fincher after he grounded out.

Bucs vs. Blue Rocks. Salem's Gary Wilson (4-1, 4.05) faces Wilmington's Jon Lieber (5-0, 2.26) at 7 p.m. Ticket prices: $5 (box); $4 (reserved); $3 (general admission); $1 for children 12 and younger and senior citizens.

See microfilm for statistics.