ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Riding a five-game winning streak and sending its ace pitcher to the mound, the Salem Avalanche looked primed to continue its winning ways.
But the winning streak melted quickly under the intense heat Tuesday night.
Lynchburg scored eight runs in the bottom of the third inning - seven off Salem starter Brent Crowther - as the Hillcats rolled past Avalanche 9-2 in a Carolina League game before a crowd of 1,021 at City Stadium. (Box score in Baseball Scoreboard.)
With one out in the third, Shon Walker's double scored Derek Swafford to give the Hillcats a 3-0 lead. Crowther then got Freddie Garcia to ground out, but he gave up an RBI single by Jose Guillen, a single to Jonathan Sweet and an RBI single by Erskine Kelley for a five-run deficit.
That was it for Crowther (3-3), who took the loss, going 2 2/3 innings and giving up seven runs on nine hits.
Keith Barnes came on in relief and gave up an RBI single to Eddie Brooks, which scored Sweet with the sixth run. Adrian Brown, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI, smoked a triple that scored Brooks and Kelley as the Hillcats (20-24) took an eight-run lead.
Brooks finished 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Guillen, Sweet and Walker finished with two hits each.
Salem (26-20) scored its runs in the seventh on a solo homer by Chad Gambill and in the ninth on an RBI groundout by Elvis Pena. Blake Barthol and Brian Culp had two hits each for the Avalanche.
Lynchburg starter Kane Davis (5-2) got the victory, going 71/3 innings and giving up one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out three.
SNOWBALLS: The City of Salem will formally dedicate Memorial Baseball Stadium at 6 p.m. May 31 in a ceremony one hour before before the Avalanche's Carolina League game with Frederick. The ceremony, involving city officials and service veterans, at the ballpark's main entrance will include the unveiling of a monument to Salem servicemen who have died in wars.
The black granite memorial, with in-laid gold lettering, stands 8 feet high and is 17 feet long, in three sections. The monument has been erected at the park gates in a project approved last summer as part of the ballpark construction.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB