Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170337
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
1ST INNING SINKS BUCS
The baseball game between the Salem Buccaneers and Frederick Keys at breezy and brisk Municipal Field on Friday night was eight innings worth of dueling pitchers, a nice change for a battered Bucs staff.But it was the one inning of offensive action that was Salem's poison. The Keys assaulted struggling Dave Doorneweerd for three runs in the first inning and went on to a 4-2 Carolina League victory before 1,512 chilled out customers.
Doorneweerd, a 20-year-old right-hander, was effective thereafter, throwing four shutout innings. That set the tone for successors Sean Evans and Jason Christiansen, who yielded only one more run in three innings. Pretty good for a staff that had coughed up 31 runs in its last 32 innings.
Frederick's Rick Forney declined to be outpitched, though. The 6-foot-4 right-hander from Annapolis, Md., worked seven strong innings, striking out nine and walking none. His only flaws were two solo home runs, Marty Neff's third of the year and Jon Farrell's second.
"[Forney] had the hammer and he knew how to use it," Salem manager Scott Little said.
Forney, who improved to 2-0 with 16 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings, claimed he did not have his full arsenal. "The fastball was good and the forkball was good; the other stuff [curve and change] was iffy," he said.
Neff deposited one of the benders over the left field fence in the second.
"He kind of hung it inside, which is probably not what he wanted to do," Neff said.
Jon Farrell, the former top draft choice, jacked another solo shot in the seventh to cut the Keys' lead to two runs. Forney called it a night after the third out.
"I'd had enough," he said. "The cold breeze came up and my back stiffened up on me."
The Bucs had a chance to rally in the eighth when Tony Womack bunted his way on against reliever Dave Paveloff then stole second with one out. However, Jeff Conger struck out and Chance Sanford flied to left.
Mike Brown's one-out triple in the ninth offered hope, but that fizzled when Brown bolted for home on Farrell's grounder to third and was nailed at the plate.
Considering the way the Salem pitching recovered, the homers may have sufficed had not the first gone so poorly. Three wild pitches, three hits, and two errors opened the door.
\ BUCSHOTS: Little moved Womack to the top of the order and Sanford out of that slot and into third. "Just experimenting," Little said. "Sanford's been hitting as well as anyone [.303 coming in] and we moved him to the three hole to see what happens." Sanford went 0-for-4. . . . Evans and Christiansen allowed only one hit over the last three innings. . . . Farrell is two for his last 13 with 10 strikeouts. Of his four hits, two are homers and one a double.
\ see microfilm for box score