Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9406220003
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem muzzled the Prince William Cannons 6-3 in the opening game of the second half of the year. The Bucs jumped on Prince William's ace pitcher Sean Johnston (10-2), the winningest pitcher in the Carolina League, for four runs in the first two innings.
How important is getting off to a good start?
"It means we won't go winless," Salem manager Trent Jewett deadpanned. "We've still got a chance to go undefeated."
Salem finished the first half in third place in the Southern Division with a 32-37 record. Prince William was 38-32, second in the Northern Division.
Salem rightfielder Jake Austin doubled home catcher Jason Kendall in the first inning, and the Bucs added three runs in the second.
With two runners on base, centerfielder Jeff Conger singled in third baseman Jay Cranford, and then first basemen Jon Farrell sprinted home as Conger was trapped in a rundown between first and second.
Second baseman Chance Sanford doubled home designated hitter Dario Tena for the final run of the inning.
In the next half inning, Prince William retaliated with all of its runs, closing the score to 4-3. Leadoff hitter Essex Burton plated two runs with a single, and two outs later, rightfielder Jimmy Hurst doubled home third baseman Geovany Miranda.
Bucs pitcher Matt Chamberlain, who improved his record to 4-8, retired 13 hitters in a row after Hurst, but Jewett pulled him when Chamberlain gave up a single to Robert Machado leading off the eighth. It was only the sixth hit Chamberlain allowed.
"[Chamberlain] wasn't going to get beat no matter what happened [after he left the game]," Jewett said. "He gave me seven innings. I took him out with a 4-3 lead. If I leave him in and they chunk one over that short porch, he thinks he's had a bad game, and it looks like he's had a bad game."
Salem's Jason Abramavicius pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, and Sean Evans, the Bucs' new closer, recorded the final two outs. Evans replaces Marc Pisciotta, the league-leading bullpen pitcher (17 saves), who was promoted to Class AA Carolina on Tuesday.
"Pisciotta was the best stopper in the league," Jewett said. "Now Evans has the job until he proves he can't do it." Evans entered the game with a 1.24 earned run average in 24 appearances.
Salem manufactured two runs out of one single in the eighth. Cranford moved from station-to-station on two errors, a stolen base and a balk, and Conger scored on an error, a stolen base, and shortstop Ed Brooks' hit.
"I thought the soft liner that Conger hit, when the second-baseman [Burton] jumped early, put us over the top," Jewett said.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB