ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997 TAG: 9704210139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
First baseman Justin Drizos draws a bases-loaded walk to atone for an error and give Salem a victory.
Steve Shoemaker, Bobby Bevel and Lloyd Peever painted a masterpiece between the painted lines Saturday at Salem Memorial Stadium. First baseman Justin Drizos brought a can of spray paint.
Drizos made a ninth-inning error that threatened yet another Avalanche pitching gem, but in the end it was Drizos' eye for detail and restraint that gave Salem a 2-1 victory over Kinston.
Drizos walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to score Kyle Houser as the Avalanche clinched its first series of the season.
The Indians brought in a new pitcher, Brett Merrick, to face Drizos. Merrick's first two pitches were balls. Halfway to a victory, Salem manager Bill ``Moose'' McGuire told Drizos to take the next one, which was called a strike. Merrick still wasn't close to being out of trouble, though.
``That was a tough situation for Merrick to come into,'' said Joel Skinner, Kinston's manager.
Imagine a secretary being told to type a memo without making one false keystroke. Imagine a fireman being given a limited amount of water to put out a fire. Now you have an idea of Merrick's margin of error. If his next pitch is a ball, his team loses. If his next pitch is a strike, he has to do it again.
``The pitch was up,'' Drizos said. ``Thank God I didn't swing.''
There was a thought in the dugout that maybe Salem should pinch hit for Drizos, who had gone 0-for-3. McGuire, however, said he was hesitant to lose Drizos' defense at first, the error be damned. The decision to let Drizos bat was sealed during a discussion between McGuire and coach Stu Cole when Cole said, ``Maybe he'll atone for the error.''
``When I got up, I expected to win it,'' Drizos said.
Shoemaker didn't know what to expect. Shoemaker was in street clothes during Drizos' at-bat, but had he not been all spruced up, he might have leaped on the dusty turf. Shoemaker's night ended after 5 2/3 innings with the Avalanche up 1-0 and one hit to Salem's credit. Shoemaker went to the showers having surrendered three hits, three walks and no runs and striking out eight.
The Indians loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth inning. Shoemaker then struck out Marcos Scutaro and got Mike Huelsman to pop out to shortstop. He started the next batter, Mark Budzinski, with two strikes, but quickly evened the count at 2-2, throwing his head back in disgust. Shoemaker settled down enough to strike out Budzinski swinging.
Bevel and Peever combined for 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief, and closer Heath Bost got the victory by pitching the ninth inning. NOTE: please see microfilm for statistics.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB