'Hawks overcome the odds

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

But things got a little bumpier on Wednesday with the news that first baseman Peanut Williams would miss substantial time with bone chips in his elbow, the broken hand of Mike Abate in the first inning and the late scratch of starter Melqui Torres.

Abate left the game in the top of the first after a foul ball from Terrmel Sledge broke his left hand.

Julio Ayala got the call to start in Torres' place and earned the win as the JetHawks battled the cold and a dose of bad luck, for a 7-2 win over Mudville. The announced attendance Wednesday was 831, the second smallest crowd to see Lancaster this year, at Billy Hebert Field.

Ayala went the minimum five innings, racking up five strikeouts and giving up two earned runs.

The win helps Lancaster keep its two-game lead over Rancho Cucamonga in the Southern Division.

The Mudville offense showed up early in the form of a two-run homer from Will Ford in the second inning and then disappeared.

"I hung that curve up there," Ayala said. "I'm glad it was the only bad pitch I made."

On the night, the Nine mustered three hits, the homer and singles in the fourth and sixth.

Ayala (2-1) settled down for the next three innings, allowing three more base runners, only one of which made it past second base.

After Ford's shot put the Nine up 2-0, the JetHawks answered back in the top of the third.

Guillermo Martinez took advantage of an error by Mudville shortstop Mark Ernster to reach with two outs.

Corey Freeman made Ernster pay with a double to left, scoring Martinez as Freeman moved to third on the play

With Harvey Hargrove at the plate, Nine starter James Johnson uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Freeman and tying the game at 2-2.

Johnson (2-4), who had already beaten Lancaster earlier this season, struck out 11 JetHawks on the night, but could not escape the loss.

In the sixth, back-to-back runscoring singles from Bo Robinson and Craig Kuzmic helped the JetHawks put three more up on the board for a 5-2 lead.

Hargrove led off the inning with a walk. Sledge, who drilled an infield single to third baseman Jeff Deardorff, followed him to place two runners on.

Robinson and Kuzmic both came through with broken bat singles and a run-scoring ground ball from Travis McClendon capped off the inning's scoring.

"You have to give (Johnson) credit, he threw a great game for them," Lancaster manager Mark Parent said. "He was spotting it inside pretty well and nobody likes hitting that (stuff) on a cold day.

"But our guys were able to string some hits together and get the win.

"Our defense played well, but our bullpen really pulled us up." McClendon was brought into the game to pinch hit for Abate and finished 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

Other than Ayala, normally a reliever, the bullpen also provided Cody Morrison, who threw three scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first save of the year.

"Morrison looked erratic in the seventh," Lancaster pitching coach Scott Budner said. "But he settled down to get the job done in the eighth and ninth."

The very inexperienced infield of Freeman and Martinez again impressed Parent with their solid play in the field and timely hitting.

"I'm just looking for good play in the field form them," Parent said. "Anything else I get is a bonus. They were just clutch for us tonight everywhere."

Torres refused to comment after the game on Parent's call to start Ayala.

Parent called it, "my decision to make."

In six starts this season, Torres has struggled to a 1-3 mark with an ERA of 7.36.

Uploaded May 11, 2000