Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 4, 1993 TAG: 9309040289
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The winner's a no-brainer, right?
Not so fast. As anybody can tell you, nothing is certain in baseball, which is the only way to explain the Salem Buccaneers sweeping the Winston-Salem Spirits 2-1 and 4-2 Friday night with 2,367 in attendance at Municipal Field.
The Bucs pitched great, it was as simple as that. Sean Lawrence, who came in winless in three starts after being moved up from Augusta, and Dennis Konuszewski clamped down on the second-half Southern Division champions for the win in the second game and Doug Harrah and Marc Pisciotta formed a tag team for a five-hitter in the second game.
Don Garvey made things exciting for those who don't appreciate finely crafted mound work by belting a two-run tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning of the second game.
Garvey thus made people forget all about his two prior errors.
"You always want to do something to help the team after you screwed up," said Garvey, who hit his third homer of the year.
Salem stopper Pisciotta kept the suspense up by yielding a hit, walk, and wild pitch in the seventh, but escaped without further damage for his 11th save.
Harrah's only misstep was a two-run home run by Tim Belk in the fourth inning that allowed the Spirits to forge a 2-2 tie. Otherwise, Harrah was sharp with four stikeouts, four hits, a walk, and a hit batter.
"I tried to keep the ball down, which is a key with this team," he said. "I also tried to pitch them inside a lot. They're probably the most aggressive hitting team in the league and they'll go after some bad pitches."
In the first game, the Spirits led 1-0 thanks to Bubba Smith's first inning sacrifice fly.
Salem came back with a one-out rally in the third after three-straight hits by Jeff Conger, Alan Purdy, and Trace Ragland - Ragland's double scoring Conger. Jon Farrell followed with an RBI groundout.
That was enough for Lawrence, who went on to yield but two hits, striking out four and walking three.
"I wanted to get out of Salem with a win and it was good to do it against these guys," Lawrence said.
\ BUCSHOT: Motorboat Jones was hit by a Harrah pitch in the sixth and was taken to the hospital for X-rays on his right arm. There was no report of his condition. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB