Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Giving to charity is not always a good thing.
The Salem Avalanche would agree after losing to the Frederick Keys 5-0 in a Carolina League game on Tuesday night for the team's first loss at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Keys (20-20) scored four runs on four Avalanche errors in the last two innings.
Frederick took a 1-0 lead in the seventh when leadoff batter Jim Foster hit the first pitch he saw for a home run - the first round-tripper in the new stadium.
"It didn't hit me at first that I hit the stadium's first home run because they had a pitcher's duel going," said Foster of his fifth homer of the season.
Now the confusion.
In the top of the eighth, Jairo Cabrera reached on infield single and took second on an error. Harry Berrios followed with an infield single, and the next hitter, David Lamb sacrificed, but Keith Grunewald's two-base error allowd Cabrera to score. Jason LeCronier and Foster then walked, forcing in Berrios to give Frederick a 3-0 lead. Tommy Davis struck out and the inning finally ended when centerfielder John Giudice caught a deep fly ball by Chris Kirgan and threw to second baseman Vicente Garcia, who doubled off Lamb at third.
In the ninth with the bases loaded and Bill Bliss relieving Mark Brownson, Harry Berrios hit a shallow fly ball that was caught by Giudice, but a throwing error allowed Rolando Avila to make the score 4-0. The next batter, Foster grounded to shortstop, but catcher Yohel Pozo dropped Chris Sexton's throw, allowing Angel Pagan to score the game's final run. The following batter drew an intentional walk, but Bliss retired the next two batters on a pop up and a strikeout.
"It's simple. If you don't catch the ball, you don't have a good chance of winning," said manager Bill Hayes.
The irony of the last two innings is that defense is what kept Salem (23-21) in the contest through the first seven.
In the first, Berrios started the game with a single, stole second, but was picked off after taking too big of a lead off the base. In the third inning, Berrios was thrown out at second to end the inning. And in the sixth with one out and runners at the corners, Giudice caught the ball and fired it to Garcia, who then doubled off the runner at first.
"That was some bad baserunning," said Frederick coach Joe Durham. "We were not using good baseball sense."
The miscues and bad judgement overshadowed the performance of Keys pitcher Calvin Maduro (7-5). Maduro pitched a three-hitter, striking out at least one batter in every inning but the fourth and 11 for the game.
"He's definitely gotten better since the last time we saw him," Hayes said of Maduro, who was 0-2 with a 5.55 era in four games versus Salem prior to Tuesday. "He has a pretty idea of how to pitch us.
"Guys are looking for this pitch and that pitch," said Hayes." At this level, see the ball and hit it."
Starter Jamey Wright (9-6) allowed, three runs - two earned - on seven hits while suffering the loss for Salem.
NOTES: Chad Foutz, a shortstop who recently graduated from Franklin County High School, was the 1995 recipient of the Ray Bellamy Award. Given by the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame for the best high school player in a seven-county region, Foutz batted .574 with three homers and eight triples and will attend Virginia Tech this fall...Centerfielder Edgard Velasquez, who missed his second sraight game, is listed as day-to-day. Velasquez had a negative reaction to aspirin he took on Monday...Last week, Brownson and Jason Johnson were sent down from New Haven and Pozo was called up from Asheville. Pitcher Joe Waldron signed as a free agent on Sunday and catcher Jason Smith, who was placed on the disabled list Monday, will miss the rest of the season. Pozo is now the only catcher on the roster...In the third contest of the four-game series, left-hander Brian Brewer (2-1, 1.99) takes the mound for Frederick against newly-acquired Johnson (0-0, 0.00) for Salem.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB