ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 5, 1996 TAG: 9608050160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
THE SALEM PITCHER, who suffered a broken nose earlier in the season, lifted the Avalanche to a 4-1 win over Kinston on Sunday.
A night that began as so many others had for poor Luther Hackman ended up as the most glorious moment of his baseball career.
Was it simply meant to be that he would throw a no-hitter at the Kinston Indians Sunday night? The evidence - several outstanding defensive plays, the pinpoint pitches he made in late innings with the no-no on the line - would indicate so, although his flawed but determined outing didn't flow from him like a 90-miles-per-hour fastball. It was extracted from him by some curt commentary from pitching coach Bill Champion.
While off to a rocky start in the first inning, Champion went to the mound to offer words of advice for his live-armed yet wild-throwing pupil.
``He told me I'm a professional baseball player,'' Hackman recalled, ``and that I should start pitching like a professional baseball player.''
Point taken.
Despite walking four batters and hitting another, and despite giving up a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly in the first, Hackman settled down and overmatched the Indians the rest of the way in pitching the first no-hitter by a Salem hurler since Randy Tomlin did it in 1989 for the Salem Buccaneers.
The victim that day? The Kinston Indians.
It was a night to remember that merely had a forgettable beginning. Perhaps, though, the beginning was the most important part. After Hackman had walked two of the game's first three batters, Champion stomped out to the mound and unleashed a tongue-lashing that included some animated arm-waving from the former big-leaguer.
``I told him if he couldn't do it, we had guys in the bullpen who could,'' said Champion. ``He was nibbling early and was getting behind and wasn't able to come back and throw strikes. What happened was Kinston failed to put him away in the first and second. He got through the third, then it was lights out.''
Hackman allowed only one baserunner after that - Chip Glass, who reached on an error in the fourth. He was erased on a double play when Salem centerfielder Garrett Neubart made a spectacular, running catch of a Jerry Taylor drive to the wall. Neubart then made a relay throw to first before Glass got back.
Hackman retired the final 16 batters he faced, although not without some help. In the fifth, first baseman Nate Holdren made a diving snare of a Guillermo Mercedes one-hopper and recorded the out unassisted. In the sixth, shortstop Kyle Houser made a great snag of a Glass one-hopper and fired to first in time.
Then, in the eighth, second baseman Elvis Pena toppled over while catching Gary Hagy's infield pop-up and trying not to stumble over the pitcher's mound.
``Those guys made great plays,'' said Hackman.
And Hackman (5-5) made great pitches. He went from not being able to get the ball in the same area code of the plate early on to making precision pitches with his fastball and slider.
His fastball was regularly around 90 mph. Five of his six fastballs in the ninth were clocked at 92.
``God gave guys like him a ton of arm strength,'' said Champion. ``I like to see guys use their velocity.''
It was a performance that had many of the Salem partisans in the crowd of 1,691 at Memorial Stadium standing in the ninth inning and chanting ``Atta boy, Luther!'' Ray Harvey flied out to left for the first out, Eric White looked at a third-strike slider and David Miller grounded a roller to short that Houser charged, fielded and fired low to Holdren, who scooped the ball for the final out.
``Nate kept telling me to have confidence in myself,'' said Hackman, who missed a month after his nose was broken by a line drive and had not won since May 19. ``Nobody was talking about the no-hitter, though.''
No one was more nervous in the ninth than Salem manager Bill McGuire, who was monitoring Hackman's pitch count. The Colorado Rockies limit all the minor leaguers to 120 pitches per outing. Hackman's last pitch was the 119th.
``I was going to have a decision to make,'' said McGuire. ``I had already decided that I was going to leave him in as long as he had a no-hitter. I believe the organization would have wanted that.''
It was a pitcher's duel between Hackman and Terry Harvey until the sixth, when Salem snapped a 1-1 tie with three runs off reliever Daron Kirkreit (0-1).
Tal Light singled, Holdren doubled (as part of his 4-for-4 night) and Blake Barthol knocked in two runs with a single. Pookie Jones later knocked in Barthol.
Neubart, Barthol and Jones had two hits for the Avalanche.
``I was there thinking, `We've got a no-hitter going and it's gonna be 1-1 in the ninth,''' said McGuire.
Hackman, who fanned four, was the first Salem starter to get a win since June 15.
``Yeah, you can call that a quality start,'' joked McGuire.
SNOWBALLS: Avalanche radio broadcaster Mark Aucutt has called the last two Salem no-hitters. Aucutt was the play-by-play man for Kinston when Tomlin threw his no-hitter. ... Holdren has a five-game hitting streak and is batting on a sore left foot he hurt when he fouled a pitch off it in batting practice Saturday.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB