Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408270040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Right guy, right time, wrong outcome.
Down two runs to the Kinston Indians in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday at Municipal Field, the Salem Buccaneers loaded the bases with two outs for Jake Austin, who had homered, doubled, and singled in four previous at bats.
David Welch, the fifth hurler of this warm and humid evening, had the answers and the right pitches, though, fanning Austin on a 1-2 pitch to end the game and deliver an 8-6 Carolina League victory with 1,848 in attendance.
"I don't have any problem with that," Salem manager Trent Jewett said. "We had the bases loaded and a chance to win the game in the ninth inning."
Instead, the Bucs (57-72) were burdened with their third straight loss to the Indians.
Austin did what he could by going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run in the first inning that provided Salem the early lead. Salem starter Marc Wilkins made that hold up for five innings. But then he became unhinged during a four-run sixth and the Bucs were in the catch-up mode for the duration.
"That whole inning was rough on us," Jewett said. "The first guy [Jon Nunnally] gets hit in the back foot by a curveball. Wilkins is probably the only guy in the league who can hit somebody on the back foot with the hammer. Then they steal second and Chance [Sanford] goes to cover and they hit the ball into the hole. I don't know if that guy [Epi Cardenas] meant to do that, but if he did, it was a nice piece of bat control.
"Then we have a home run ball tailor-made for this ballpark."
That would be the pitch that Mitch Meluskey drilled over the right field wall, pumping his fist as he rounded first. No wonder he found reason to celebrate: It was only his second home run this year and his third in two years of pro ball.
"I used to think I was a home run hitter in high school," said Meluskey, a 12th-round draft choice after his senior year in high school in Yakima, Wash., in 1992. "Then I have three in two years of pro ball. I still think it's going to come."
Still, it wasn't a cheapie that he smacked.
"Basically, he'd been throwing me inside all night," Meluskey said of Wilkins. "Before tonight, he'd thrown me off-speed stuff - curveballs and changeups on the outside part of the plate. You can get comfortable watching stuff on the outside part of the plate so he surprised me when he threw it inside on me tonight. I told myself that I'd be ready when he did it again."
The count was 1-2 when Meluskey cranked the inside fastball.
A double by Jamie Taylor followed and an RBI single by Andre White, in the ninth slot in the order, plated Taylor.
Cardenas, batting sixth, and White were murder on the Bucs, going 7-for-9 with three RBI and two runs scored.
The Bucs didn't take this in a retiring manner. They were swinging the bats well too. Salem ended with 10 hits.
"Everybody in the lineup but Chance had a hit, and he hit a double-play ball real hard," Jewett said.
by CNB