Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993 TAG: 9309010188
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Prince William Cannons stuffed the Bucs 8-5 to complete a three-game sweep as 1,047 somber fans looked on at Municipal Field.
Not only did the Bucs have to endure their eighth loss in 11 games, not only did they have to endure Bo Gilliam eating them up with four hits and five runs batted in, not only did they have to endure Scott Gully spitting them out with three perfect innings of relief pitching, but they had to sit glumly as a visually spectacular thunderstorm delayed the execution for 50 minutes.
Even Mother Nature has little sympathy for a loser.
The Bucs will have the league's monthly day off today and then gear up for the last three games of the year when Winston-Salem comes calling.
Salem was in this one awhile, trailing 4-3 after three innings. But Bucs starter Eric Parkinson blew up in the fourth, giving up three runs on four hits. For a team with the worst hitting in the league - Salem supplanted the Cannons in that hideous category with the loss - that deficit was mountainous.
The Bucs weren't up to the climb.
"We were in it, then boom . . . " Salem manager Scott Little said.
The key for Prince William was the pitching of Gully, who worked perfect sixth, seventh and eighth innings, striking out four.
"He hasn't been pitching that well lately," Prince William manager Trey Hillman said. "But he's made some adjustments. He's holding back and not rushing so much as he had been."
Gully took over for Ben Short, ineffective coming out of the rain delay. The starter, Steve Munda, was making his first starter as a pro after 97 relief appearances.
Andy Croghan hurled a scoreless ninth to earn his 10th save.
The other poison pill for Salem was Gilliam, a brawny outfielder who, at age 25, has the beginnings of a head of gray hair. Gilliam homered for two runs, doubled in two more and singled home a fifth.
"It was a sign of good things to come when the official scorer gave me a hit when it could have gone either way on my first at-bat," he said. "It's been a long time coming. I've been so inconsistent this season. This is the first game I've had three or more hits in weeks."
\ BUCSHOTS: Hillman was in an anxious mood following the game, because he had received word that his wife was entering the final stages of pregnancy with their first child. . . . Trace Ragland hit a two-run homer in the third inning for Salem, his eighth home run of the year. . . . The Bucs will be sending seven players to fall Instructional League once the season ends. They are third baseman Ken Bonifay, second baseman Chance Sanford, outfielder Ramon Espinosa, outfielder Jon Farrell and pitchers Sean Evans, Dennis Konuszewski and Kevin Rychel. . . . Winston-Salem beat Kinston 6-4 on Tuesday to clinch the second-half Southern Division title. As a result, the series with Salem will have little meaning for the Spirits, other than fine tuning for the playoffs.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB