ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 21, 1997 TAG: 9704220019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
Wild pitches help Kinston salvage the finale of a three-game Carolina League series.
Taking two games this weekend from the first-place team in the Carolina League's Southern Division may have been too much for the Salem Avalanche.
Before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 1,814 out to get a sunburn, the Avalanche melted away late in the game, falling to the Kinston Indians 7-4.
``We just ran into a wall, I think, in the seventh inning,'' said Bill ``Moose'' McGuire, Salem's manager.
The loss prevented the Avalanche from claiming its first series sweep of the season, but the team's hope is that it proves to be more of an aberration than a trend. ``To take two of three from the first-place team, I'm happy with that,'' McGuire said.
Focusing on the big picture was a better idea than zeroing in on a couple of the later innings. The Avalanche (6-11) had a 2-0 lead going into the sixth inning, but two wild pitches by starter Scott Randall helped the Indians (11-5) even the score.
It was the second time in a week that wild pitches, not hits, helped a Salem opponent take control of a game. Three wild pitches by Mike Vavrek on Wednesday led to both runs in Wilmington's 2-0 victory over the Avalanche
``They're young guys,'' McGuire said. ``Sometimes they make mistakes as far as pitch selection.''
Reliever Sean Murphy came on in the seventh inning Sunday and began throwing curve balls instead of his specialty, sliders. Another wild pitch let Kinston take the lead 3-2.
Catcher Ben Petrick knocked in his third run of the season to tie it in the bottom of the seventh, but things really got bad for the Avalanche in the eighth. The Indians put their first two men on base for designated hitter Pat Evans. With the runners breaking, Evans bunted and popped Bobby Bevel's first pitch into the infield air. Petrick and third baseman Clint Bryant converged on the ball, but Bryant saw it roll out of his glove, a potential triple play dashed.
``He should have gotten that,'' McGuire said.
The ball landed in the dust of the third-base line, right about where Salem's victory hopes were blowing away. Kinston scored three quick runs on three hits.
The final run was the worst. As the left-handed Bevel went into the stretch with his back to third base, Mark Budzinski got a big lead off third and broke toward home. At the same time, John McDonald broke toward second on a steal attempt. Before Bevel could react, Budzinski had crossed the plate and McDonald was well on his way to second.
``That's not something we do very often,'' Kinston manager Joel Skinner said of the play, which he had planned to use if Salem had a lefty on the mound. ``We were trying to create something, because nothing had been happening.''
Salem scored its final in the eighth inning when Garrett Neubart led off with a single to center field and later came home on a David Feuerstein sacrifice fly to right.
The Avalanche will try to forget about the series finale today, when it enjoys its first scheduled off day of the season. The only other break the team has had since April 4 was April 9, when its game was called off because of cold weather.
``The day off's going to be nice,'' McGuire said. ``It's their day, they can do whatever they want. You won't see anybody at the ballpark.'' NOTE: please see microfilm for statistics.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB