Hawks just need two

A pair of doubles in the eighth by Robbie Hammock and Billy Martin drove in three runs and helped the JetHawks escape with an 8-7 win Thursday over San Bernardino at the Hangar.

It was the JetHawks's first victory over the Stampede since April 15, breaking an 11-game losing streak to the Inland Empire team.

"I'm really proud with the way these guys battled tonight," JetHawks manager Scott Coolbaugh said. "Our guys didn't give up and that's the attitude of a winning ball club."

After a single by Jeff Waldron and a double by Corey Myers, Hammock hit a bases-clearing double that tied the score, 7-7.

Martin then hammered a ball that bounced off the warning track and over the wall. Hammock scored the game-winning run on the ground-rule double.

"I was kind of surprised by the hit. I didn't make good contact and it just flew," Martin said. "I just got the knock and did what I had to do."

Hammock, who in the sixth hit into a double-play with the bases loaded to end the inning, redeemed himself with the game-tying hit.

"I didn't lose my focus because I knew I would have another chance," Hammock said. "This win is really a feel-good win for us."

JetHawks starter Doug Slaten looked shaky in his five innings on the mound, giving up 10 hits and six runs.

Slaten has given up 15 earned runs in the third inning this year, preventing him from being a regular visitor in the win column. His bad luck made an early appearance in the first inning, putting Lancaster behind.

Slaten kept climbing out of the holes he dug himself into during the first four innings, relying on double plays and the defense to keep San Bernardino off the scoreboard.

He got lucky in the fourth when the JetHawks defense defused a no-out, two-man-on scenario that kept San Bernardino from expanding its lead.

Reliever Hatuey Mendoza started the sixth and stopped the bleeding, giving up no runs in his three innings of work to give Lancaster the chance to overtake its two run deficit.

"I am so proud of Mendoza and the way he pitched for us. He gave us a chance to win this game," Coolbaugh said.

Slaten, however, wasn't alone in his struggles on the mound.

Former JetHawk and San Bernardino starter Melqui Torres also had a hard time at the hitter's ballpark, giving up four runs in the first four innings as well.

He left the game in the sixth after giving up five runs and 11 hits.

But the offense behind him, led by Chris Snelling's evening, allowed the Stampede to stay in the lead most of the game.

Hammock got the JetHawks onto the scoreboard in the first with a home run to center.

Matt Kata laced a hit over the reach of Stampede shortstop Guillermo Martinez and into shallow left field to score Luis Terrero and temporarily tie the game.

But then the third inning came for Slaten and the Jethawks, and the team fell behind again.

Snelling hammered a pitch off the scoreboard in right field for a run- scoring triple. Snelling later scored on Ryan Christianson's single.

A late inning Lancaster rally, however, would evaporate the Stampedes' goal of 12 straight wins over the JetHawks.

"Our guys did an outstanding job," Coolbaugh said. "This is the kind of win we need to get back into it."

The win becomes even more potent in the JetHawks' mission to get to the top of the California League standings with High Desert and Rancho Cucamonga losing its games Thursday night.

Uploaded July 27, 2001