ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 3, 1996 TAG: 9609040071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The last game of the Lynchburg Hillcats' season was their 7-3 victory over the Salem Avalanche on Monday night. Their season didn't end, though, for another five minutes.
That's about how long it took for the Wilmington Blue Rocks to score a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Frederick Keys 4-3 and win the second-half title of the Carolina League's Northern Division by one game over the Hillcats.
The Blue Rocks won both halves and will get a reprieve in the first round of the Carolina League playoffs this week. Wilmington will play the winner of the Kinston-Durham series in a best-of-five set for the Mills Cup.
When word of Wilmington's victory spread through the Hillcats' clubhouse, a stream of invectives spouted from all directions. Lynchburg (39-31) won four games of this six-game, season-ending series with Salem (28-41), which finished both halves of the season in last place in the Southern Division. However, a doubleheader sweep by the Avalanche on Sunday bumped the Hillcats from first place and dropped them a game behind the Blue Rocks.
``I don't think we let anything slip away, no,'' said Hillcats manager Jeff Banister, whose team won three of four games at Prince William before playing the commuter series with Salem. The Hillcats played just two series with Wilmington in the second half.
``We had the most grueling schedule of anybody in the league. I'd rather have had Wilmington head-to-head rather than playing the other division.''
It was obvious which team was hoping to extend its season judging by the number of U-Hauls and vehicles with car-top carriers parked outside the Salem clubhouse in the catacombs of Memorial Stadium. The Avalanche finished the year with an overall record of 62-76 and hoped only to spoil Lynchburg's playoff plans.
But the Hillcats scored twice in the first and took a 5-1 lead in the second off Chandler Martin (2-8) and never were headed. Salem got within 5-3 in the third, but Lynchburg's Matt Spade (6-4) relieved Kevin Pickford in the fourth and pitched 32/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Salem ended with 11 hits, Chan Mayber and Chad Gambill each delivering three. Both teams committed three errors in a less-than-crisply played affair.
``It was certainly a tough second half,'' said Salem manager Bill McGuire. ``That made the whole season seem tough, especially when you look back and see that we just didn't play well. There were positive signs, but it was just frustrating.''
SNOWBALLS: On Friday, when McGuire was staring at a six-game series with back-to-back doubleheaders, he feared his pitching wouldn't make it through the weekend. It probably wouldn't have if not for the performances of journeymen relievers Todd Genke and Scott LaRock. Both went six innings in their respective first starts and saved the Avalanche bullpen - Genke lost 3-1 Saturday and LaRock won 6-1 Sunday. ... ``The main thing was to give the team innings,'' said LaRock. ``It worked out well.'' ... Monday's game drew 3,220 fans. The four-day series attracted 16,815 spectators, an average of 4,204 fans per night. ... When David Nied found out Saturday night he was being added to the Colorado Rockies' expanded roster, the former No.1 expansion pick was needled by Salem pitching coach Bill Champion, who told Nied, ``The majors are expanding again in two years. You could be an expansion-draft star.'' ... Salem catcher Blake Bathol was named the Avalanche's Most Valuable Player. Barthol appeared in 108 games, third-most on the team, and was batting .289 with 13 homers and 67 RBI before Monday.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Salem's Chan Mayber (left) is safe atby CNBsecond as Lynchburg's Chad Hermansen is late with the tag. color.