ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER note: shorter in metro
Does the Salem Avalanche have to take its nickname so literally?
The Avalanche is cold, and sliding, and on Thursday night it continued a trend of baseball futility that's become too familiar in the neighborhood.
Winston-Salem's 10-3 victory at Memorial Stadium clinched Salem's 16th consecutive Carolina League half-season under .500. The Avalanche is 32-35 with games left against the Warthogs tonight and Saturday.
It's a skid that began after the defending champion Buccaneers went 40-29 and won a division in the first half of the 1988 season. Since then, the nine clubs are a combined 107 games under .500.
It's a streak that spans two organizations - Pittsburgh and Colorado - and two ballparks, Municipal and Memorial, but they're still the Salem sliders.
It wasn't easy for this Avalanche club to get there. It was nine games over loss was the Avalanche's sixth in a row, the longest skid of the season.
``We got our butts kicked,'' said Bill McGuire, Salem's manager. ``I thought we played well in the [just-completed] Kinston series, but tonight, they just beat us.''
The parent Colorado Rockies have promised personnel help when the second half begins next week, and Salem could use it.
``There's only so much we can do,'' McGuire said. ``We have a catcher playing left field, a left fielder playing right, a utilityman playing somewhere every night, and every one of our guys is still battling.''
A crowd of 2,892 wasn't thrilled by much except the reduced beer prices on ``Thirsty Thursday'' and Will Scalzitti's two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, right-hander Clint Koppe (8-2) tied for the league in victories and Winston-Salem cut idle Durham's Southern Division lead to one game. The Bulls were rained out and will play Lynchburg in a twinbill tonight.
Salem starter Mike Vavrek (5-3) continued the struggles he's experienced since blanking Durham on a three-hit shutout on May 17. In six starts since, the lefty has worked 29 innings and his earned run average in that span is 7.13.
The Warthogs embarrassingly ran Salem out of the park, getting seven steals, including four by left fielder Andre King, who is with his third Carolina League club in two seasons and fourth organization (Atlanta, Chicago White Sox, St.Louis and Cincinnati) in that span. King had only three steals entering the game.
``I wouldn't have blamed Phillip [Wellman, the Warthogs' manager] if he had run five or six runs up,'' McGuire said. ``He needs to win all three of these, and he's playing a team that's done nothing lately but find a way to lose.''
Vavrek's first two pitches turned into a pair of Winston-Salem runs. Decomba Conner doubled to left to begin the game, and Yuri Sanchez singled. Then, Dee Jenkins and Marlon Allen followed with consecutive sacrifice flies for a 2-0 lead.
It only got worse for the Avalanche. King had a single, three walks and three runs scored to go with his four steals. Then, he's accustomed to moving.
He was Atlanta's second-round pick in the 1993 draft and played that summer with Danville in the Appalachian League. In August, he was traded to the White Sox for Mike Devereaux, who starred in the Braves' pennant drive. In the winter, he was a Rule 5 draftee by St.Louis, then immediately traded to the Reds, who put him on the winter 40-man roster.
SNOWBALLS: Dick Balderson, Colorado's vice president of player personnel, said Thursday the Avalanche will have ``several'' new faces when the second-half season opens a week from tonight. Balderson, speaking from Portland, Ore., where he's working a camp for the Rockies' signed draftees, said Salem should have arrivals from Class AA New Haven (Conn.) and Class A Asheville (N.C.). The moves will be announced next week. ... You've heard of ``bullpen by committee.'' Salem's first-half finale Saturday night against the Warthogs will extend that to the rotation. McGuire said he likely will divide the mound work among several bullpen members because of injuries in the rotation.
... The first Carolina League-California League All-Star Game will air live on TV and radio Tuesday from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Home Team Sports will televise the game, and Roanoke's WROV (1240 AM) will carry the broadcast, at 9 p.m.
NOTE: PLease see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN Staff Avalanche third basemanby CNBStevenBernhardt goes high for a throw, but he's too late to get the
Warthogs' Andre King. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL