ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK THE ROANOKE TIMES
Tempers were flaring in every direction during the second and final game of Salem's series against Winston-Salem.
On a chilly ``Thirsty Thursday'' at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium, it wasn't just the suds and sodas that were foaming over.
The Avalanche found another way to lose in what is quickly becoming a long season, and manager Bill ``Moose'' McGuire and reliever Lariel Gonzalez were ejected as Winston-Salem rallied for a 9-5 victory.
On a windy night in a pitchers' ballpark, the two lowest-scoring teams in the Carolina League combined for 10 extra-base hits, but the difference was in the bullpens.
While the Warthogs got five innings of scoreless ball from winner Adam Virchis (1-1) and Maximo Nunez, Salem's relief corps turned a decent outing by starter Mike Vavrek into disaster.
In the Winston-Salem seventh, Avalanche right-hander Scott Schroeffel (0-1) issued three straight walks with two outs to force in a run. That was the end of the evening for McGuire.
``I cursed in the hallway, in the dugout, because we walked in a run, and the [plate] umpire [Matt Hollowell] thought I was cursing at him,'' McGuire said. ``He kicks me out, then he kicks out a kid for pitching inside after a home run.''
Gonzalez replaced Schroeffel just after McGuire screamed at Hollowell following his booting. The Dominican right-hander had Ed Randolph down in the count 0-2 when the Warthogs' left fielder ripped a grand slam over the right field wall - Randolph's first home run of the season.
Gonzalez hit Clemente Alvarez in the back with his next pitch. Hollowell didn't hesitate in waving the ejection sign, which will bring a suspension and fine for the Salem reliever.
``If you're going to throw at someone, and Lariel wasn't, you don't hit him in the back,'' McGuire said. ``You throw it up and in, at his head. It wasn't like that. You get that call from umpires who never played the game.''
It wasn't the first contentious moment of the game, however. After Salem's four-run third, two Warthogs pitchers in street clothes came up from the stands past the non-existent security and into the pressbox, complaining to official scorer Brian Hoffman about a couple of decisions.
Winston-Salem's five-run explosion wiped out what once was a 5-2 Salem lead. McGuire spent about 10 minutes in the clubhouse after the loss talking to his very quiet team.
``We walk in a run to make it a one-run game,'' McGuire said. ``We have a man [Jamie Taylor] picked off third [with one out in the fifth]. We shut down completely offensively.
``We can't depend on the pitching to win every night. It's not the most frustrating loss, but it is another rung on a ladder that's going toward frustration. We don't have the killer instinct.''
McGuire told his players ``they have to find a way themselves to get out of this. I still have confidence in them. Someone has to be a leader. We don't have a leader right now, per se.''
SALEM SLIDERS: Right-hander Mike Zolecki, who pitched nine games in relief at Salem in 1995, returned Thursday night from Class AA New Haven. Zolecki, 25, was 1-1 with a 9.53 ERA for the Ravens this season, with 11 strikeouts and 15 walks in 111/3 innings. He exchanges places with righty Lloyd Peever (0-0, 3.27 in four games), who moved from Salem to Double A. ... Colorado also moved infielder Brett Elam (.200 in six games) down from Salem to Asheville of the South Atlantic League. That leaves the Avalanche with 13 position players - ``plenty,'' McGuire said. ... The reverberations from the Rockies' trade Wednesday of utilityman Jeff Huson got former Salem third baseman Steve Bernhardt (63 games in '96) his first trip to Class AAA, as the utility infielder at Colorado Springs. ... The Avalanche begins a three-game set at Durham tonight, with right-hander Tom Stepka (2-1, 2.75) on the mound. The Bulls swept three in the season-opening series at Salem. ... The Avalanche returns home a week from tonight to begin a three-game series with Frederick. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
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