JetHawks inch closer to first with tremor

Lancaster moved within a half-game of first place in Wednesday's win.

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

After that, neither team went down in order again until the Quakes did it in the top of the seventh.

In between that span, the teams combined for 18 runs, 12 for Lancaster, as the JetHawks grabbed to a 14-12 win before an announced crowd of 4,148 at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

Lancaster's win and San Bernardino's 5-0 loss at Visalia leaves the teams deadlocked atop the Cal League South Division.

"It's a win," Lancaster manager Mark Parent said. "Our defensive play was just terrible today, and it helped keep them in the game.

"We had a good outing from Mears, it just didn't look that way because of the defense."

Mears (4-3) went 6 innings, giving up six runs - five earned - to grab his fourth win of the season.

The JetHawks used a four-run sixth and a two-run seventh to help put the high-scoring affair away.

"Mears doesn't lose his composure," Parent said. "He was erratic at times, but he really kept us in the game tonight."

In the sixth, left fielder Juan Silvestre got things going with his league-leading 13th homer of the season, a solo shot to right, to leadoff the inning.

Quakes reliever Johnny Hunter followed Silvestre's homer with a walk to Bo Robinson and gave up another bomb, this time to first baseman Craig Kuzmic.

Kuzmic's shot put the JetHawks up four, 11-7.

"We've got some guys out of position in the field, so we're going to make some mistakes," Parent said. "But the one thing we can do is hit the ball, and we have to continue to hit the ball to win some ball games."

After putting up one more run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, the game looked out of reach for Rancho.

Enter friend to the Quakes, JetHawks reliever Neil Longo.

In two outings this year against Rancho, Longo had given up six runs in one-third of an inning.

He fared a bit better on Tuesday, giving up four runs in innings of work.

Included in that stretch was a three-run homer to John Adams.

The scoring spree started in the bottom of the first, as Lancaster tacked on a pair of runs against Rancho Cucamonga starter Omar Ortiz.

Center fielder P.J. Williams opened with a walk and advanced to second on a botched pickoff.

Williams was plated on shortstop Antonio Perez's single to left.

Later in the inning, Terrmel Sledge doubled and later scored on a groundout from Juan Silvestre to give Lancaster an early 2-0 lead.

The Quakes, though, answered back with two runs of their own, off Mears, in the top of the second to tie the game, 2-2.

Uploaded June 8, 2000