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By BOB FOLEYDally Ttitgrtp* 5port» EditorBluefield Oriople manager Junior Miner calls Don Welehel the “Vulture.”“He's just like one,” explained the rookie skipper about his lanky righthanded pitching ace. “When he gets'em down, he goes right after them and eats them right up.”Friday night at Bowen Field, the Vulture picked Paintsville clean, 5-2, hurling a five-hitter as the red-hot Orioles extended their Appalachian League seasonal-high winning streak to seven games.Now 3-0 for the Baby Birds, who climbed over the 500 mark with the win in their torrid pursuit of the league lead, Welehel struggled for the first five innings. But when he found himself, the Hilanders, losers ofOriolesExtendWinningStreakreferred to as a “jinx before the game. In other starts, that's when the opposition had done its worst damage.But the Orioles wasted little time in giving Vulture, whose last two outings had been 15 and 12-inning no-decision affairs, the lead.Mike I^aCasse walked to start the home half. He went to second on a groundout and after John Shelby flew out to deep left, scored when Boyce powered a wrong-field double to right. Ripkin followed with a shot to left to score Boyce.That gave Welehel a second wind. “He couldn't get his curveball working until about the sixth, that was his problem,” said Miner. “He finally found the groove and when he finds the groove, he's very tough because he's so smart.returning home Monday to meet the same club, won it by coming from behind with two runs in the fifth, then gave Welehel a little working margin with two in the eighth.Shortstop Cal Ripken and third baseman Bob Boyce, two of the younger Birds, did the most damage at the plate. Both scored twice, Ripkin ripped three shots and Boyce two.Tom Bloemke, making his first professional start, was victimized by five errors which allowed the Orioles to score one unearned run. But Welehel, who has one of the lowest earned run averages of any starter in the league, also was the victim of an untainted run.Paintsville’s last score was charity all the way. Jose Rodriguez walked with one out in the fifth. He stole second andBob Boycewhen the throw bounced crazily and got through m center, scored easily.Oddly enough, it had been the fifthCal Ripkena half-dozen straight, were easypickings.The Orioles, who go to Johnson City tonight for the first of a two-game set before
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Sat, Jul 15, 1978
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NV, USA 31 May 2023
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