JetHawks fall to host Visalia

Lancaster continued to struggle against Visalia, as Jeff Heaverlo pitched a solid game but got little offensive support

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

On Wednesday, the teams combined to leave 13 men on baseas the Oaks took a 3-2 win at Recreation Park before a crowd of 730.

The Visalia win comes one night after the Oaks were outslugged 16-12 on Tuesday and less than a month after the teams combined for eight errors and 13 walks in one game.

"Today the offense had trouble getting started," JetHawks skipper Mark Parent said. "We never got ahead tonight and it cost us. If you have a bat in your hand, use it."

Five innings into his outing, Lancaster starter Jeff Heaverlo finally retired the side in order, after three-times getting two outs to start an inning and failing to close it out.

In the second inning, it cost him a run.

After Heaverlo dropped a throw at first from Craig Kuzmic on an Aaron Nieckula grounder, Javier Flores drove in Nieckula on a single to left that knotted the game at 1-1.

"That one really cost him," Parent said. "It could have been the third out and it ended up being a run. It was just that kind of night for him."

In the third, the Oaks wasted no time in getting to Heaverlo. Michael Wenner singled to open the third, swiped second and scored on a Josh Hochesang double to right center.

Hochesang stole third and scored on a pop fly to shallow left by Matt Howe. On the play, Perez made a great catch but was unable to regain his balance in time to throw out Hochesang, who was tagging up on the play.

The two-run third gave Visalia a 3-1 lead. Heaverlo left in the seventh after pitching 6 innings, giving up all three runs, two of which were earned.

"Jeff didn't do a bad job of holding runners on tonight," Parent said of his starter. "(Visalia's) just a good running team and they're taking advantage of that. We're not just letting them go (run), we're trying to get better at it."

In the fourth, Lancaster cut the lead to 3-2 after Juan Silvestre reached on a one-out single and later scored on a single from Freddie May up the middle.

In the fifth,Lancaster had a golden opportunity for a run go by the wayside.

P.J. Williams started the fifth with a walk and Bloomquist followed two batters later with a single to give Lancaster runners at the corners with one out. But with Terrmel Sledge at the plate, Bloomquist was caught stealing second and Sledge flew out to end the inning.

"I got greedy there," Parent said unabashedly. "I though we could get an extra bag and it cost us. I ran us right out of that inning.

"That's a situation where a fly ball gets us a run and we didn't get it. These guys (Visalia) throw a lot of strikes and we didn't swing at enough of them."

For the second time in as many games, shortstop Antonio Perez got the JetHawks on the board early with a leadoff home run in the top of the first. Perez took the first pitch Oaks starter Scott Chiasson threw over the left-field fence.

Perez has seven home runs this year, all since coming off the disabled list with a broken hand on June 5.

Uploaded June 29, 2000