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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990                   TAG: 9007010198
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                 LENGTH: Medium

GONZALEZ POWERS TO THE TOP FOR PULASKI IN 8-5 WIN

Catcher Wallace Gonzalez, the bottom man in the lineup, doubled, tripled and drove in four runs as Pulaski won for the third time in its last four Appalachian League baseball outings, this time 8-5 over the Princeton Patriots.

By going 3-for-7 in the two-game series, Gonzalez raised his average 71 points to .285 (6 of 21).

"The way we do things here, we figure that you continue to hit balls hard, then eventually they're going to fall," he said. "Tonight, they fell."

A lot of them fell for the Braves (7-3), who had nine hits. Pat Dando hit one in the third inning that fell in the street beyond the fence in right for his second homer of the season.

After banging out four hits in a game earlier this week, Dando then went 2-for-8 the next two games before breaking loose with two hits Saturday.

"They were pitching me inside and on my hands both nights," Dando said. "I took a little step back from the plate and tried to slow down a little."

After going 1-for-4 against Princeton starter Bill Stohr the last time he saw him, Dando guessed correctly with him this time around, particularly on the home run.

"He had a 2-1 count on me and he'd thrown me two curves, so I knew he was going to be coming back with a fastball," Dando said. "They'd set me up to pull, but he laid it right out over the plate and it just stayed there and didn't do anything."

Princeton (5-5) scored twice in the first with four hits off Braves starter Larry Owens. Pulaski rallied with four in the second before the Patriots came back with two in the third to tie the score 4-4.

But from the fourth inning on, the Pulaski bullpen held fast, allowing just one more run. Travis Dunlap pitched four innings of two-hit ball and Barry Chiles worked the last two innings for his first save.

"Both of them threw the ball well," Pulaski manager Randy Ingle said. "Throwing for strikes and staying ahead is the name of the game and that's what they did."

Johnny Walker and Karl Rudison walked in the sixth, then Gonzalez brought them in with a double. Gonzalez eventually scored his second run of the game on a passed ball.

\ BRAVES BRIEFS: Pulaski's Hector Roa, the shortstop, made the defensive play of the game in the eighth when he ranged all the way into Pulaski's bullpen to track down Aurelio Llanes' popup. . . . Left-hander Brian Bark (0-1) will pitch at Kingsport tonight.

Princeton 202010000-5100 Pulaski 04100300x-891

Stohr, Garcia (6th) and Rusk. Owens, Dunlap (4th), Chiles (8th) and Gonzalez. W - Dunlap (1-0). L-Garcia (2-1). HR-Dando (P), third, none on. S - Chiles (1).