ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606260052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The ghosts of Salem Municipal Field flitted over Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
The rally put forth by the Salem Avalanche was about as common as viewing an apparition, maybe less so. What other way is there to describe coming from 10 runs down to win a baseball game than paranormal?
``Unbelievable,'' said Salem's Blake Barthol, choosing another description.
Barthol played a large role in Salem's unimaginable 12-10 win over the Prince William Cannons, who squandered every last bit of a 10-0 lead in losing for the first time in six trips to Salem this season.
Barthol hit a pair of two-run home runs - the first coming in Salem's seven-run fifth inning that suddenly turned an apparent rout into a contest - and had five RBI. The 22 combined runs were the most scored in Memorial Stadium this season.
It was the kind of game that would not have seemed so out of the ordinary in Salem's old haunting grounds just down the street at Municipal Field, where the cramped conditions made for high-scoring games and gave pitchers regular cases of indigestion.
It was not known if Tuesday's rally established any franchise record, although it caused Avalanche vice president Sam Lazzaro to recall a similar game from 1987.
``We were trailing Kinston 9-0 and came back to win,'' Lazzaro said. ``It seems like that game kind of sparked us and we went on to win the second half and then the [Carolina League] championship.''
It is far too soon to tell if Tuesday's game will have a similar effect on the Avalanche, although it certainly can't hurt.
``You really don't think that will happen to a team that has been hitting as bad as we have,'' said Salem manager Bill McGuire.
For one glorious inning, Salem (2-3) hit like the '27 Yankees. Trailing 10-0, the Avalanche sent 12 men to the plate - the first eight reaching safely off Cannons starter and Carolina League strikeouts leader Russ Herbert - and even brought the tying run to the plate.
Barthol's homer got the Avalanche on the board, but it was two shorter hits - bunt singles by Pookie Jones and Elvis Pena - that kept things going. Will Scalzitti scored on Jones' bunt when third baseman Dan Kopriva made an errant throw, Kyle Houser had a two-run triple and John Giudice doubled in a run to make it 10-7.
``After it was 10-0, I was going to come out,'' said Barthol, who has nearly done all of Salem's catching. ``Moose [McGuire] told me [to] take one more at-bat. After we scored seven, he said, `Well, let's go at least one more inning.'''
Good call. Barthol added another two-run homer in the seventh to make it 10-9.
Salem won it with three in the eighth. Nate Holdren's two-run double off loser Shane Buteaux (0-1) gave Salem the lead, then Barthol added a run with a groundout.
``Yeah, I've seen some of these kind of games before,'' said Prince William manager Dave Huppert, a former major leaguer. ``As long as the sun comes up tomorrow, we'll go from there.''
Salem reliever Patrick McClinton (1-1) pitched 12/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. Scott LaRock was effective for 32/3 innings after the Cannons scored 10 runs in five innings.
Six of Prince William's ten runs came off Avalanche starter Stephen Shoemaker, who went three innings, allowing five hits and five walks.
Reliever Doug Walls, pitching for the first time in 19 days because of a sore shoulder, couldn't plug the dike in allowing four runs in two innings. He gave up Nilson Robledo's two-run homer in the fourth and was touched for three extra-base hits - back-to-back triples by Juan Thomas and Ben Boulware and Joe Walker's double - and two more runs in the fifth.
``We've been looking for something to get us on track,'' McGuire said. ``maybe this is it.''
SNOWBALLS: The Avalanche placed pitcher Zach Sawyer on the disabled list Tuesday. ... Infielder Link Jarrett joined the Avalanche from Class AA New Haven (Conn.). ... Colorado Rockies vice president and general manager Bob Gebhard is in town through today. Rockies cross-checker Bill Gayton was also at Memorial Stadium on Tuesday.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB