Lancaster runs out of late rallies

San Bernardino's Joe Thurston had a game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning to beat Lancaster

By BRETT PAPE
Valley Press Staff Writer

Last Thursday at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, the JetHawks rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Stampede 9-7. It was the largest deficit Lancaster has overcome in 2000 to record a victory.

This week, the JetHawks trailed 5-1 after five innings. Lancaster scored one run in the sixth and three in the seventh to tie the game 5-5.

However, this week, Lancaster could not finish the rally, falling 6-5 in 10 innings to San Bernardino in front of a crowd of 1,219 at San Bernardino Stadium.

The loss drops Lancaster to 29-19 on the season. The JetHawks lead over the Stampede (26-21) in the South Division is now down to 2 1/2.

Joe Thurston's RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Bill Duplissea from second for the winning run. Thurston reached base six times, going 4-for4 with a pair of walks.

The loss was the fifth in the last nine games for Lancaster. JetHawks manager Mark Parent was frustrated with Thursday's loss because the team had rallied back from the early deficit.

"Dropping five of nine bothers me because of how we are losing them," Parent said. "We played bad defense and made some physical errors. We didn't deserve to win with the way we played."

Lancaster's rally started with Bo Robinson's RBI fly out to left to score Sheldon Fuse in the sixth inning. Scott Maynard had an RBI single and Fuse added a two-run double in the seventh.

After Jeff Heaverlo was pulled trailing 4-1 after four innings, Julio Ayala gave up one run in two innings of work. Lamont Matthews had an inside-the-park home run against the Ayala in the fifth.

Neil Longo replaced Ayala in the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings of relief. He gave up one hit with one walk.

Allan Simpson pitched the ninth and 10th and took the loss to drop to 2-2.

Heaverlo was trying to bounce back from his worst start of the season. The right-hander gave up seven earned runs on eight hits in three innings last Saturday at High Desert.

He struck out three and had one walk in the start against the Mavericks. He left the game with score tied at 7-7, so got a no-decision.

In his four innings Thursday night, Heaverlo struck out seven Stampede batters. After walking leadoff batter Joe Thurston in the first inning, Heaverlo recorded three consecutive strikeouts.

The Stampede touched Heaverlo for two runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead. Pete Paciorek scored on Lamont Matthews' single and Darron Ingram on a Craig Kuzmic throwing error.

In the fourth inning, Jimmy Gonzalez had a two-out two-run double against Heaverlo to give the Stampede a 4-1 lead. Heaverlo got out of the fourth by striking out Paciorek.

Heaverlo (3-2) has not recorded a win since April 16, when he beat Rancho Cucamonga 7-4.

"We need another starting pitcher to step up for us," Parent said. "(Jeff) was going good until he got two outs. He tried to pitch better as the inning went on instead of doing the same stuff. He had 80 pitches in four innings, which isn't good."

Uploaded May 26, 2000