Second half starts like first for 'Hawks

Jeff Heaverlo pitched seven solid innings and Juan Silvestre drove in two runs as Lancaster improved to 2-0 in the second half.

Lancaster took care of Lake Elsinore 5-3 Friday night, improving to 2-0 in the second half after winning the first-half title last week and qualifying for the postseason.

Leading the way were familiar faces for Lancaster: the arm of Jeff Heaverlo, who pitched seven solid innings, and the run production of Juan Silvestre, who knocked in two runs to give him a leagueleading 70 for the year.

"(Heaverlo was a little erratic at first, trying to overthrow the ball a little bit, I think," Lancaster manager Mark Parent said. "He settled in and got some positive stuff out of it today."

The JetHawks took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Antonio Perez singled to begin the game for Lancaster. Willie Bloomquist followed with a single through the right side of the infield on a hitand-run.

Lake Elsinore right fielder Rich Stuart, who would later play a more pivotal role, overthrew third base on the play and Perez jogged in with the first run of the game.

Silvestre scored Bloomquist on a sacrifice fly to left field, which gave Lancaster a 2-0 lead.

"Juan's swinging the bat well, I have no problems with the way Juan's swinging the bat," Parent said.

Parent also was pleased with the way the team manufactured runs in Friday's game.

"It doesn't do you any good with a man on third to strike out," Parent said. `You have to put the ball in play somehow; make something happen."

Heaverlo (6-3) looked sharp in the first, striking out two batters, but fell into trouble over the next two innings.

With one out in the second inning, Marcus Knight sent a line drive to left field that Harvey Hargrove felt he could reach. But Hargrove's sliding catch came up empty and Knight made it to third base before Hargrove could recover.

Stuart sliced Lancaster's lead in half with a sacrifice fly to left field to put the Storm (36-36) on the board.

After Craig Kuzmic's RBI single brought the JetHawks' lead back to two runs (3-1), Stuart went back to work.

Bill Mott led off the third inning with a triple down the rightfield line and came home on Mike Christensen's RBI groundout.

Then Stuart tied the game with his fifth home run of the season, a blast over the wall in right-center field.

Heaverlo escaped a much bigger jam in the seventh inning that could have broken the game open. The 6-foot-1 right-hander gave up singles to Stuart and Jason Hill with one out in the inning. Alfredo Amezega compounded Heaverlo's woes by dropping a perfect bunt down the third-base line.

By the time Heaverlo was able to field the bunt, all three runners were safe.

However, Heaverlo didn't let the situation affect him. Heaverlo coaxed a grounder to first base off the bat off leadoff hitter Elpidio Guzman. Kuzmic fielded the ball and threw home for the force out, and Travis McClendon returned the ball to Kuzmic for the 3-2-3 double play.

"You don't see that play every day," Parent said. "Kuz made a great play and McClendon got rid of the ball in a hurry, and got it there on time. That takes a lot of momentum out of their hands and gives it back to us."

Silvestre rewarded Heaverlo for his effort, pushing the JetHawks to a 4-3 lead while he was still the pitcher of record.

With two outs in the seventh, Lake Elsinore starter Wes Crawford hit Terrmel Sledge with a pitch. Silvestre knocked him in with a laser that one-hopped the center-field.

Heaverlo pitched seven innings, allowing eight hits and three runs while striking out four.

Aaron Looper and Allan Simpson combined for two innings of perfect relief to ice the game for Lancaster (42-30).

"Simpson came in and did a great job, 1-2-3, along with Looper," Parent said.

Uploaded June 24, 2000