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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993                   TAG: 9305280187
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOMERS LIFT BUCS IN 12TH

Order finally has been restored at Municipal Field.

After two horrific losses in a row, the Salem Buccaneers looked at another blown game through its bloodshot eyes and did not blink. This time, the Bucs got home runs from Jeff Conger and Ken Bonifay in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the die-hard Winston-Salem Spirits 7-5 in a Carolina League baseball marathon Thursday night.

At length, Salem manager Scott Little allowed himself a hard-earned grin.

"Three nights ago, we were fitting ourselves for rings then they came in here and beat our butts good two games," he said. "You get over .500 and you want to win so bad and keep it going, then you go up and down, up and down, up and down. I really let it eat on me for about a week. I'm not going to let it eat these guys [the team] like it ate me. We're going to have some fun."

Fun it was, even as Jeff McCurry blew his second save opportunity in three nights and let the Spirits back into the game. Chad Mottola's RBI double in the eighth and Mateo Ozuna's solo homer in the ninth knotted matters at 4-4.

Then, after the Bucs had left the bases full in the 11th, Bubba Smith clubbed his first homer in this league this year off Matt Ruebel to send the Spirits up by a run.

Then in the 12th, Jeff Conger, pinch hitting for Joe Ronca, led off with an opposite field shot that barely cleared the fence. It was his first pinch homer.

"The guy [John Hrusovsky] had a good curve, but he couldn't get it over," Conger said. "The count went to 3-2 and he three me a fastball low. It was probably ball four, but for a left-handed hitter, it was great. He'd probably been better off throwing it right down the middle."

With two outs, Hrusovsky nailed Kevin Polcovich with a pitch to bring up Ken Bonifay, who had a 10-game hitting streak on the line. The Spirits called on lefty Todd Ruyak, a University of Virginia product who only recently joined the club. Bonifay hit a 2-1 pitch over the right field fence to end it.

"I was just fortunate to hit it," he said.

\ BUCSHOTS: The Bucs moved into second place in the Southern Division, a game behind Kinston. . . . Salem's Jon Farrell, back from the disabled list, homered and made a Mays-esque basket catch off Smith at the wall in deepest center to send the game into extra innings. . . . Right-hander Esteban Loaiza is back with Salem after a tour in the Mexican League, from which he is on loan.

NOTE: See microfilm for statistics.

by CNB