ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
SALEM BEGINS a three-game homestand with Southern Division-leading Durham tonight at Memorial Stadium.
There are many Carolina League managers who would love to wear the spikes of Durham Bulls skipper Randy Ingle.
Salem Avalanche manager Bill McGuire is not necessarily among them.
While Ingle has the luxury of penning the names of super prospects Andruw Jones, Ron Wright and Wes Helms in the middle of his batting order, McGuire satisfies himself with managing a club that prides itself on pitching, defense and uniforms stained with grass and infield dirt.
``We have a blue-collar team,'' McGuire said. ``We don't have an Andruw Jones, a Wes Helms, a Ron Wright. What we have are guys who give 100 percent every night. I'm pretty confident that every guy in the lineup is giving his all and that I can get everything out of them.''
McGuire will need to squeeze all he can this weekend. The Bulls and Avalanche begin a three-game series tonight at Salem Memorial Stadium that could figure prominently in determining the Southern Division's first-half champion.
Heading into Thursday's action, the Bulls held a 31/2-game lead over Salem, which lost two of three games in Durham last weekend. With barely a month remaining in the first half, the Avalanche does not want to surrender any more ground to the Bulls.
Durham was expected to be in this position. The Bulls are the beneficiaries of an Atlanta Braves farm system that's as deep as Bill Gates' pockets and just as rich. Only Sherman left more damage on a march to Atlanta than the 3-4-5 bashers of Jones, Wright and Helms, who held the top three spots in three Carolina League statistical categories through Wednesday: home runs, slugging percentage and extra-base hits.
Wright led the league with 12 homers, Helms was tops with 36 runs batted in and Jones, who was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year last season, was batting a league-high .336. Every player who has won the Baseball America honor since the magazine began awarding it in 1981 has played in the major leagues.
To combat this power company, McGuire will send starting pitchers Mike Vavrek, Matt Pool and Luther Hackman to the hill.
``We need to get ahead and get our pitchers comfortable,'' McGuire said. ``When we get two- or three-run leads, we're usually golden.''
This is the last time the Avalanche and Bulls meet until after the All-Star break. Following this series, Salem embarks on a 10-game trip to Lynchburg, Prince William and Wilmington.
``If we can get back from Wilmington [on May 30] and still be in it,'' McGuire said, ``we have a chance.''
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:(headshot) Vavrek KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB