Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 11, 1993 TAG: 9307110192
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Long - The game (12 innings, four hours).
Long - The line for Jim "Catfish" Hunter's autograph.
Long - The Bucs' odds after trailing 4-0, 5-3 and 8-5.
Long - Both teams' relief needs.
Long - Home runs by the Cannons' Scott Epps and Bo Gilliam and Salem's Trace Ragland.
Longer - A mammoth two-run shot by 6-foot-7, 250-pound Bucs first baseman Michael Brown.
Short - The outings by both starting pitchers (neither made it past the fourth inning).
Short - Salem's end of the score.
Three Prince William relievers no-hit the Bucs for the final 8 1/3 innings, and Carlton Fleming lined a two-out, RBI single in the 12th inning as the Cannons outlasted Salem.
"It was a mind-boggling game," said Fleming, who finished 4-for-5 with four RBI and a stolen base. "It's hard to stay focused for that long.
"I was just really in a groove, really comfortable tonight. I love this park. It gives you confidence."
Fleming made a loser of Kevin Rychel, the sixth Salem pitcher. After starter Doug Harrah gave up eight runs in three innings, four Bucs pitchers kept Prince William off the plate for the next 8 innings.
The game screeched from shootout to shutout after four innings. Salem whacked Cannons starter Bruce Prybylinski for eight runs in 3 2/3 innings, but Andy Croghan, Scott Gully and Matt Dunbar combined to pitch no-hit ball the rest of the way.
"The bullpen just did a great job," said Prince William manager Trey Hillman. "And I like our 16 hits. We didn't capitalize from the fifth to the 12th, but we stuck with it. With our record [8-11] and some of our disappointments, it was great to see."
In a three-inning span from the second to the fourth, the teams used 15 hits, seven walks and three errors to score eights runs each. The Bucs tied the score at 8 and chased Prybylinski - who hurt himself with five walks - in the bottom of the fourth inning on back-to-back homers by Brown and Ragland.
Epps, who entered the game hitting .188, launched his first home run as a pro with two Cannons on base in a four-run second inning. Gilliam's solo shot gave Prince William a 5-3 lead in the third, and Fleming's two-run single highlighted a three-run fourth.
Salem got bad-hop RBI singles from Tim Marx and Jeff Conger while scoring three runs in the second, and Marx and Kevin Polcovich drew bases-loaded walks as the Bucs tied the score at 5 in the third.
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB