Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 25, 1990 TAG: 9007250278
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Bryan's middle relief pitching and the hitting of Walker and Kowitz were the only respites from a Princeton onslaught at Calfee Park.
The Patriots punctured, spindled and mutilated the Braves 11-3 in an Appalachian League baseball pasting.
"Not much to it tonight," Braves manager Randy Ingle said. "I was looking up to see if there was a full moon or something. I didn't know what was going on."
In that, he was not alone among the Braves. But first to the highlights. There weren't many.
Bryan, fresh off the highway from Bradenton, Fla., and the Gulf Coast League, came in to pick up the pieces for unfortunate starter Barry Chiles. When Bryan went to work to begin the third inning, the score was 7-0, Princeton.
Bryan didn't exactly get off to a great start, tossing his first warmup pitch in the bullpen about seven feet over catcher Wallace Gonzalez's head and onto the field of play. Bryan got better, though.
He pitched four shutout innings, striking out five and allowing two hits and three walks.
"First time I've seen him throw," Ingle said. "He looked real good."
Walker and Kowitz contributed what they could. Walker singled thrice, driving in two runs. Kowitz closed out this sad affair with a solo homer in the ninth, his fifth.
The Braves' laundry list of sins was extensive: four grisly errors, two run-scoring balks, two passed balls, four wild pitches, two botched force plays and a runner called out for being hit by a batted ball.
Then there was reliever Stewart Ford, who lost the handle on one pitch and drilled Luis Brito in the head. Brito went down face-first and lay in the dirt as if felled by howitzer fire. Then, with aid, he slowly rose to his feet.
"Thank God for helmets," Patriots manager Elia Grba said. "He'll be all right."
The Patriots, by contrast, did a lot right. That was particularly so of Ron Lockett, who had four hits, three RBI and a run scored. Pitcher Bill Stohr, a left-hander who came in with a 1-3 record and 5.79 earned run average, went the distance, scattering 10 hits.
\ BRAVES BRIEFS: Over two nights against the Patriots, Walker had four straight hits and raised his batting average 30 points to .274. But just as this fourth-round draft choice is getting warmed up, he is packing his bags. He leaves the team Aug. 4 to hook up with the Longhorns of the University of Texas, for whom he is a standout wide receiver. . . . The Braves (19-13) embark today on an eight-game road trip that will take them to Bristol, Bluefield, Princeton and Kingsport. . . . Pulaski concluded its longest homestand of the season 4-4. Princeton 340000013-11100 Pulaski 000101001-3104
Stohr and Rusk. Chiles, Bryan (3), Ford (8) and Jiminez. W - Stohr (2-3). L - Chiles (2-1). HR - Kowitz (P), 9th, none on.
by CNB