Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They said don't expect too many home runs - leg out doubles and triples and attempt more stolen bases.
Well, such wasn't the case Thursday night.
Nate Holdren and Vicente Garcia hit home runs in the ninth and 10th innings respectively as the Salem Avalanche came from behind to defeat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-4 in 10 innings before a crowd of 2,801 in Carolina League action.
"If we hit a few homers in this park, we will get a few `W's' [wins]," winning pitcher Matt Aminoff said.
Salem had hit only three home runs in the previous 13 games at Memorial Stadium. The Avalanche (29-31) is just 7-8 at the new stadium and looked as if another defeat was in the plans before a late power surge.
Wilmington (42-19) starter Phil Grundy had a perfect game going before allowing a leadoff single to Mark Wells in the sixth. Wells had just been called up earlier in the day to replace John Giudice, who is out for the rest of the season with a bruised hip.
Grundy left the game leading 4-1 with runners at first and second and one out in the ninth.
Chris Connolly came into the game for Wilmington and Salem manager Bill Hayes sent Nate Holdren in to pinch-hit for Forry Wells.
Holdren drove the first pitch he saw, a fastball right down the plate, over the right-field fence for a three-run shot to tie the score at 4.
"I was just looking for a strike to put the ball in play," Holdren said of his 15th round-tripper this season.
Colin Dixon popped out, Brian Culp singled and Mark Wells flew out to end the inning.
Wilmington tried to get the lead back in the 10th.
Anthony Medrano singled to lead off and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Carlos Mendez.
Raul Gonzalez then hit a shot toward second in which Garcia gloved the ball but was unable to throw out a diving Gonzalez at first, putting runners at the corners. Gonzalez, however, injured his hand on the play and came out for a pitch runner, pitcher Bart Evans.
The next batter, Donovan Delaney, lined a shot back to Aminoff, who looked at Medrano at third and then doubled off Evans at first to end the inning.
"I threw him a curve and the ball just knuckled back at me and hit the heel of the glove," Aminoff said of Salem's fourth double play of the night.
In the bottom of the 10th with Eric Anderson (3-1) in the game for Wilmington, Keith Grunewald reached on an infield single off the pitcher's mound to lead off the inning.
Yohel Pozo, trying to move the runner over, bunted back to the pitcher with two strikes. Anderson fired to second base in time to get Grunewald.
Chris Sexton then followed with a strikeout, sending Garcia to the plate in search of his second hit of the night.
Garcia got a 2-1 fastball up and sent it over the left-center field wall for his ninth home run of the season.
"He's a good fastball hitter and he was in a fastball count," Hayes said.
Aminoff pitched the final 12/3 innings to improve his record to 4-6. Anderson dropped to 3-1 after pitching two-thirds of an inning.
Both of Salem's victories in the four-game series against Wilmington were late-inning victories. The Avalanche trailed 4-0 Monday night before scoring seven runs in its last three at-bats for a 7-4 victory.
NOTES: The Avalanche will have an open house with guided tours to show off the new stadium Sunday from 2 -5 p.m. ... Holdren was announced as player of the month for July on Wednesday evening. Holdren batted .293 with five homers and 17 RBI last month ... The Avalanche go on a three-game series this weekend to Frederick before finishing the season with six home dates next week. Wilmington is back in town for a three-game series starting Monday.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB