ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILMINGTON, DEL.
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
How often in recent years have Carolina League fans seen a pitcher win a baseball game with his bat?
Such a rarity occurred Thursday night.
Phil Grundy, a Wilmington starting pitcher, delivered a pinch single that scored the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift the Blue Rocks over the Salem Avalanche 4-3 at Frawley Stadium.
Matt Smith started the inning with a double off the leg of Salem shortstop Kyle Houser into left field. Salem reliever Todd Genke then got Carlos Mendez to pop out, and after running the count to 3-0, he walked Sean McNally intentionally, bringing Wilmington reliever Dustin Brixey to the plate.
Brixey, who struck out in the 10th inning after hitting for himself because Wilmington had used all its position players, was lifted for Grundy. The pitcher then smacked a single to center that plated Smith with the winning run.
Genke (1-1) took the loss, giving up one run on two hits in 11/3 innings. Brixey (1-1) picked up the victory with four brilliant innings of one-hit relief.
Salem (7-7) had taken a 3-0 lead after plating two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh off Wilmington reliever Eric Anderson. Nate Holdren singled with one out in the sixth and scored on Ronnie Hall's two-out double. Hall came around on Pookie Jones' single to give Salem a 2-0 lead.
The Avalanche tacked on a run in the seventh when Houser walked with two out and scored on John Giudice's RBI double, but Wilmington struck for two runs in the bottom half of the inning against Salem starter Brent Crowther.
With two out, Donovan Delaney singled and took second on a wild pitch. George Washington-Danville alumnus Al Shirley walked and Jimmie Byington followed with an RBI single that scored Delaney. Sergio Nunez then hit an RBI single to score Shirley before Crowther got Alejandro Prieto to line out to end the inning.
The Blue Rocks (5-9) tied the score in the bottom of the ninth off Salem closer Luis Colmenares. Ramy Brooks led off the inning with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Eduardo Cedeno. Delaney singled and both runners moved up on Colmenares' wild pitch.
Shirley walked to load the bases and Byington followed with a sacrifice fly to score Cedeno with the tying run. After walking Nunez, Colmenares struck out the last two batters to get out of the inning.
Crowther pitched well for the Avalanche, going seven innings and giving up two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out two.
Salem starts a three-game series in Frederick, Md., against the Keys at 7 p.m. today. Left-hander Mike Vavrek, who won his last start, takes the mound for the Avalanche.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB