Perez's blast not enough for 'Hawks

Lancaster dropped its eighth straight decision on the road as High Desert's Jame Sykes hit a two-run, game-winning home run off JetHawks reliever Neil Longo.

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

Instead, Lancaster dropped its eighth straight game on the road, 9-7, to the Mavericks before a crowd of 1,379 at Mavericks Stadium.

In the bottom of the sixth, reliever Neil Longo came in for Omar Obando after Obando had walked first baseman Steve Neal.

The second man Longo faced, Jaime Sykes, took a fastball and sent it over the right-field wall for a two-run home run that was the difference in the game.

Obando, who threw two-thirds of an inning, received the loss, his first decision of the year at Lancaster.

"It wasn't real pretty for any of our pitchers," JetHawks manager Mark Parent said. "They were aggressive and made them hit it, but they did just that."

The JetHawks (35-16, 75-46) jumped all over High Desert (19-33, 42-80) starter Hatuey Mendoza in the second inning. In the second, the JetHawks pounded out four hits in the inning, including an RBI single from Scott Maynard and an RBI double from Harvey Hargrove.

Perez finished the scoring in the inning with his first home run of the game, a three-run shot to the right of the left field foul pole, his 13th of the year.

Perez got his second homer in the fourth inning, a one-out solo homer, also off Mendoza, that extended the JetHawks lead to 7-1.

Designated hitter Craig Kuzmic led off the third with his second triple in as many games. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Freddie May for the JetHawks only other run.

After Perez's second home run, the JetHawks had just two more hits.

"It kind of takes the sting out of a team to score seven runs and then have the other team right back in it," Parent said. "After we got the lead, they got out of their swings.

"It's like they said, 'Now that we have a lead we're going to try to hit some home runs.' That's just immaturity on their part."

In the seventh, Lancaster wasted a leadoff single by May as he worked himself over to third on a stolen base and a throwing error by High Desert Catcher Josh Glassey.

Lancaster starter Enmanuel Ulloa struggled through 5 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits and four walks.

"Whatever league or park you are in," pitching coach Scott Budner said, "you have to throw strikes and be aggressive.

"We got away from that and got behind. That makes .200 hitters, .350 hitters and .300 hitters .400 or .500 hitters."

The Mavericks scored one run in the first to take a short-lived lead when Brian Gordon scored on a double steal with first baseman Steve Neal.

In the fourth, High Desert tacked on three more runs, using a pair of walks to setup a three-run home run by shortstop Luis Santos, his first of the year.

Ulloa again had trouble in the fifth, giving up a leadoff home run to Neal to start the inning. It was his Neal's 15th homer of the year and seventh off JetHawk pitching.

Glassey and third baseman Francisco Belliard added run-scoring singles to tie the score at 7-7.

Brian Scott (2-3) picked up the win with one inning of relief in the sixth.

Uploaded August 14, 2000