ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997 TAG: 9704080087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Blue Rocks use three home runs to send Salem to its fourth straight loss to open the season.
This much can be said for the Salem Avalanche: it doesn't make excuses and it sure doesn't pass the blame around.
Robust winds carried balls all over the park Monday night, but Avalanche starting pitcher Tom Stepka didn't use that as an excuse for three home runs he allowed in a 5-3 Salem loss.
When it was suggested his cause wasn't helped by a brisk wind blowing out of left field, Stepka said, ``No, they were well-hit."
Stepka had an otherwise good outing spoiled by three of the longest shots in Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium history. Blue Rocks left fielder Mark Quinn smashed a two-run home run in the second, while Donovan Delaney and Michael Evans went back-to-back in the third. Delaney joined former UVa outfielder Symmion Willis as the only men to send a ball over the left-field beer sign. Delaney cleared it by 20 feet.
``It seemed to be carrying pretty well there," said Wilmington manager John Mizerock.
Stepka's control wasn't the problem; he didn't walk any of the 24 batters he faced. The problem was that too many pitches went exactly where the batters wanted it.
``Those just got up on me," he said. ``I felt strong and everything like that, other than three pitches."
Avalanche manager Bill ``Moose" McGuire wasn't worried, so he left Stepka in to reach his pitch count, which wound up at 77 after 5 2/3 innings. Fourteen of Stepka's 17 outs were strikeouts or ground balls, and three of the six hits he allowed were ground balls through the infield.
``People look at the end result, but Tommy threw the ball real well," said McGuire.
Salem (0-4) was down 4-0 after three innings, but held the Blue Rocks (2-2) scoreless in the fourth and fifth. Salem got its first run in the bottom of the fifth. Catcher Gilbert Vidal, subbing for the injured Ben Petrick, got his first of three leadoff hits with a single, and Elvis Pena and Garrett Neubart followed with bunt singles. That loaded the bases with no one out. Shortstop Kyle Houser hit a sacrifice fly to bring Vidal home, but that was all Salem could get.
Vidal finished 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored in his first start of the season. Vidal had a sacrifice bunt in his only at-bat prior to Monday.
``The ball looked about this big," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart. ``It's always nice to play, but I know my role on the team. Every time I get a break, I try to get an advantage."
The Avalanche almost took advantage of two late Blue Rocks miscues. Down 5-1, Salem had the tying run at the plate in the ninth.
Vidal led off that inning with a double and moved to third on a tapper by Pena. With two out, Neubart sent a ground ball down the first base line that was bobbled by Wilmington's 6-foot-3, 250-pound first baseman, Gary Coffee, allowing Vidal to score his third run of the night.
Houser came up next and popped a 1-0 pitch high in the air, just to the right of the pitcher's mound. A routine play became the opposite when Coffee let that one fall, which left two men on base. The en fuego sign in right field was referring to the Avalanche, but it might as well have been talking about the apparent hole burned in Coffee's glove.
Asked if Coffee would be getting a new glove for tonight's game, Mizerock said, ``That, or a new hand."
Coffee was exonerated when Avalanche designated hitter Jamie Taylor grounded out to the second baseman to end the game. It was the first time in 1997 that Taylor hadn't driven in a run with a teammate in scoring position.
``A win would be real nice, but we will," Vidal said. ``Once we loosen up, we'll start winning a lot of games." NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES. Salem third basemanby CNBClint Bryant (right) tags out Wilmington's Jose Cepada in the sixth
inning. The Avalanche lost 5-3 to drop to 0-4 on the season. color. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL