ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
A breeze of a game for the Salem Avalanche?
Patience had its payoff Thursday night as the Avalanche enjoyed a rare blowout, routing the Kinston Indians 14-4 in a Carolina League baseball game at Memorial Stadium before an appreciative audience of 1,296.
The Avalanche won its season-high fifth consecutive game with a campaign-best runs total. Salem had four doubles and took advantage of a quartet of Indians errors to claim its first four-game sweep this season.
Kinston left town in disarray and headed home to take on the Frederick Keys during the weekend.
``We were long overdue for an ugly game and this was an ugly game,'' said Jack Mull, Kinston's manager. ``For the first three games of this series, we didn't hit. Tonight, we didn't do anything.
``I'm not going to panic yet, it's too early for that. But we sure do have a lot to work on.''
Even in a slump, the Kinston lineup can be intimidating, but during the series with Salem, the bats headed south before the team did.
Thursday's Kinston tormentor was lean right-hander Matt Pool, who had been chased by demons of his own since his last game.
``My last outing against Frederick, we scored six runs in the second inning, but I let my teammates down and let Frederick back in the game, which it eventually won 8-6. I was determined when we got the lead tonight that wasn't going to happen again.''
Pool went seven solid innings, scattering six hits.
``I threw the fastball in the early innings, then tried to fool them with the curve and the changeup later in the game,'' he said.
Kinston pitching didn't fool anybody, least of all the lower half of the Avalanche batting order.
The Nos.5-9 hitters combined for 10 hits, eight runs, eight runs batted in and four walks. Pookie Jones went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, and John Fantauzzi was 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Fantauzzi got a rare start at first base and raised his batting average 11 points to .466 (7-for-15). Jones has hit in nine of his past 10 games.
``Moose [Salem manager Bill McGuire] told me what my role was before the season started,'' Fantauzzi said. ``See the ball, hit the ball - I'm just trying to keep it simple. I just want to get in where I fit in.''
Salem scored two runs in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings before putting the game out of reach with a six-run seventh.
``That's baseball for you,'' Fantauzzi said. ``Everything they threw, we hit. It's just part of the game.''
A decidedly unpleasant part of it for Kinston, which entered the series tied with Durham for first place in the league's Southern Division, but left in third place behind the new frontrunner, the Avalanche.
McGuire, of course, was delighted with the sweep, although he wouldn't have dared to predict it. That wasn't to say that he might not have seen it coming.
``We competed pretty well with this team when those guys were in the South Atlantic League last year,'' said McGuire, last year's manager of the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists. ``We went 5-3 against Columbus.''
Games such as Thursday's are hard not to like if viewed from the winning dugout.
``A no-brainer,'' McGuire said. ``I thought we played real well tonight. We had a few things go wrong, such as a missed sacrifice bunt by Chad Gambill in the fourth, but Fantauzzi came back and picked him up with a big two-out hit. That's what you like to see.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB