JetHawks' streak comes to an end

Jason Childers held Lancaster to one earned run over seven innings as Mudville ended the JetHawks' 14-game winning streak.

By Ed Harbour
Valley Press Staff Writer

And it worked as Childers and company salvaged a 4-2 win over Lancaster at Billy Hebert Field and in doing so snapped the JetHawks'14-game winning streak.

"The only thing we have to remember as a team is that we beat ourselves tonight," Lancaster manager Mark Parent said. "The situational stuff was just bad tonight and it cost us."

The JetHawks (19-4, 59-34) countered Childers with starter Chris Mears (7-5), who pitched one of his finer games, but allowed three runs, all in the sixth inning, before being relieved by Cody Morrison after 5 2/3.

"Mears didn't pitch bad and it was definitely an improvement over last time," Parent said. "But we know there's better pitching in him and it's hard not to want to wring it out of him. But he's young, 21, and we have to be patient."

Morrison got Jeff Deardorff to strike out to end the inning and was relieved by Neil Longo to start the seventh.

Longo tore through the Nine (15-9, 48-46), striking out the side in order in the seventh and getting the only batter he faced in the eighth to line out.

In the eighth, reliever Denny McDaniel followed Longo and got Mark Cridland to pop out for the second out only to walk the next two batters, one of whom, Jason Fox, would score an insurance run for Mudville.

"Before this, we'd walked one guy in four games," Parent said. "Tonight we walked three and two scored. What does that tell you?"

In the second inning, Lancaster took a 1-0 lead as Childers (9-6) issued a one-out walk to third baseman Bo Robinson. Two batters later, designated hitter Freddy May lined a shot to center field that Mudville's Derry Hammond misplayed, allowing Robinson to score and May to cruise into third.

In the third, Childers again ran into trouble with a walk, putting Antonio Perez on base to start the inning. Second baseman Robert Gandolfo, filling in for an ailing Willie Bloomquist, followed with a hit-and-run single to give Lancaster runners at the corners with no outs.

Right fielder Terrmel Sledge brought Perez in to score with a fielder's choice ground ball to the right side for a 2-0 lead.

After Perez scored, Childers settled down to retire the next eight batters and hold the JetHawks to one walk and one hit over the next four innings.

In the eighth, Perez again walked to lead off an inning and moved to third on two wild pitches. But Lancaster failed to drive him in as Robert Gandolfo, Juan Silvestre and Craig Kuzmic all struck out to end the inning.

"When the offense produces like that, it makes the loss taste that much more bitter," Parent said. "That's how we beat these guys the last two days and we couldn't get it done."

Uploaded July 17, 2000