tim.winsky@roanoke.com 381-1673

All nine Winston-Salem Warthogs began their trot back to the dugout. Salem's Josh Anderson slowly jogged down the first-base line with the body language of a defeated batter. Ryan Stegall slowly crossed home plate with his head down.

Every one in the ballpark thought Anderson's dipping line drive to right field would be caught by Winston-Salem right fielder Ryan Sweeney for the third out. Everyone that is except those who matter that most - the umpires.

In a game-turning call, Anderson was ruled safe at first and Stegall, safe at home squaring the score with two outs in the the seventh inning.

A stolen base, error and single by Wade Robinson brought Anderson home as Salem capped an improbable 4-3 come-from-behind victory over first-place Winston-Salem on Thursday night at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

"We had some big plays, some nice pitching and luck," Avalanche manager Russ Nixon said. "There's always luck involved in some of these games. I don't how they come about, but we took advantage of it."

However the blessing came about, Salem seized the moment to secure their third straight win. The Avalanche are 4-2 to start the second half of the season.

But the question remains: Did the ball hit grass, glove or maybe a little of both?

"I knew it was going to be a close play," said Anderson, who is batting .500 in three games since being called up from Lexington on June25. "I didn't know if he had a chance to get there or not, but when he got there, I didn't know if he caught it or not for sure, but I sure am glad he didn't or that they called it that he didn't."

Said Sweeney, "I caught it. I don't know what happened. I went over and asked [the umpire] what he was seeing and he said that when I came up it looked like the ball bounced before I caught it. I started running in because I thought I caught it."

The way Warthog starter Sean Tracey fired the ball the ball for six innings, it looked doubtful Salem would be in position to tie the game. Tracey fanned seven and allowed six hits and one unearned run before leaving with two on in the seventh in a 3-1 game.

Following two groundouts that cut the lead to 3-2, Warthogs reliever Jose Espinal was pulled in favor of lefty Nik Lubisich to counter the left-handed bat of Anderson with Stegall on third. The strategy failed as Anderson tied the game with his shot to right.

Anderson, who stole 48 bases with the Legends, proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a throwing error before scoring on Robinson's single.

"Amazingly, after making all the adjustments in getting here the other day, I really feel good," said Anderson, who went 2-for-4, scored two runs and stole two bases. "I feel confident."

The Avalanche preserved the lead with two defensive gems in the eighth. With runners on second and third with one out, catcher Jeff Mackor pounced on a wild pitch and flipped it to pitcher Monte Mansfield covering home to nab Wally Rosa racing in from third with the would-be tying run. A leaping catch by Stegall at third base ended the threat.

Mark Saccomanno had three hits and a RBI for the Avalanche.