ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606180020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
For the past two weeks, the Salem Avalanche has mostly let prosperity bounce through its legs.
At Memorial Stadium on Friday night, it was happening again. Winston-Salem twice used home runs - an uncommon sight at the big ballyard - to tie the score.
And then?
``We finally did something we hadn't done in two weeks,'' said Bill McGuire, the Avalanche's manager. ``We got a big hit.''
Salem had 14 hits and at least one in every inning, but still needed a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth to keep the Warthogs from reaching first place in the Carolina League's Southern Division with a 9-5 victory.
It was only Salem's fourth victory in its past 19 games, and it wasn't over until catcher Blake Barthol's three-run, opposite-field double - his third hit of the night - emptied the bases.
That followed John Giudice's tie-breaking RBI single, as John Fantauzzi scored when right fielder Nick Morrow's throw sailed over the head of catcher Justin Towle for an error.
It was the kind of break Salem hasn't been able to get. Were this another recent night, Fantauzzi would have been out at the plate by several yards.
``When you're going like we were, it seems everything goes wrong,'' said Barthol, who also scored three runs and was one of six Avalanche players with at least two hits on the night. ``It was happening again. We'd get a lead and give it up, get a lead and give it up.
``There was a different atmosphere when we came to the park, though. Maybe it's because the [half-season] break is coming. Maybe it was because we figured it was about time we got a break.''
Actually, Salem got a huge one in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead, when Chan Mayber's RBI double down the right-field line - another opposite-field piece of hitting - appeared foul to just about everyone in the park except plate umpire Gene Snyder, who called it fair.
In the top of the eighth, however, Towle's eighth homer of the season tied the score again. Barthol wasn't due to be the hitting hero. He was just due, period, in a 6-for-32 slump entering the game.
``Going to the opposite field is what you have to do in a park like this,'' said the Salem catcher. ``You're not going to hit one out very easily.
``In some parks in this league, a guy can pitch you away and you can take the ball to left field and get it out. `Juice' [Giudice] did a good job going the other way right before me, and Mayber does it, and [Steven] Bernhardt does it all of the time.''
The late rally handed the victory to Todd Genke (4-3), Salem's third pitcher, who gave up Towle's tying homer a half-inning earlier.
After a 46-minute rain delay following the top of the second, Salem's Will Scalzitti belted a one-out homer - his third home run in as many games - to tie the score at 1.
The Avalanche batted around in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Giudice's double - his club-leading 30th extra-base hit of the season - scored two runs. Nate Holdren followed with an RBI single.
The Warthogs got their own three-run inning to tie it at 4 in the fifth. After Andre King and Amador Arias singled, Decomba Conner - who had singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 16 games - ripped a three-run homer over the wall in left.
Bernhardt extended his hitting streak to nine games with a pair of singles. In that stretch, the third baseman is 11-for-32. He also scored two runs.
SNOWBALLS: Salem's average attendance this season at Memorial Stadium is 2,174 per game. That's up from 1,308 per game at this date last year at Municipal Field. However, in the new 6,000-seat ballpark this season, the Avalanche has had only five crowds of more than 3,000. ... Pookie Jones was a late scratch from the Salem lineup, as the outfielder missed his fifth consecutive game with an ankle sprain. ... The first Carolina League-California League All-Star game will air live on TV and radio Tuesday from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Home Team Sports will televise the game, and Roanoke's WROV (1240 AM) will carry the broadcast, at 9 p.m. ... f+bf-bf+bf-b on the All-Star squad for the Carolina League-California League All-Star game Tuesday night. How about Winston-Salem, a pennant contender, with only Arias selected?
LENGTH: Medium: 82 linesby CNB