Hawks steal one from Lake Elsinore

But Doug Slaten's method was most effective - don't let anybody on base. After a slow start, Slaten pitched Lancaster's first nine-inning complete game of the season. The JetHawks rocked Nicolas, Elsinore's first reliever, in the sixth inning, to beat Lake Elsinore, 7-3.

The JetHawks used patience, speed and a 10-batter, seven-run inning to beat the Storm. The JetHawks walked 11 times and stole a franchise-record 10 bases. Cedrick Harris singled, walked three times and stole five bases. Matt Kata doubled, walked twice and stole four bases.

The JetHawks knew that Phillips, Elsinore's starter, had a high-leg kick, and they took advantage.

"I knew if I got on, I'd get a big lead," Harris said. "If he raised that leg, I was going. He showed he was real slow to the plate. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game."

The Storm touched Slaten for three first-inning runs on three hits, including Ben Johnson's two-run home run, but Slaten was brilliant after that. He allowed just two hits over the final eight innings.

After a one-out single in the second inning, Slaten retired 18 of the next 19 batters, including 16 in a row. Vince Faison snapped the streak with an eighth-inning single.

"I'm feeling it," Slaten said. "I'm feeling better and better each time. I'm feeling stronger, and I'm applying some of the things I've been learning this year.

"I had a good curve, really, for the first time all year. I could throw it for strikes. I felt I had some snap."

Slaten (7-7) struck out eight batters, his second best total of the season, and allowed five hits in his first career complete game, a 109-pitch effort. Just three of those hits left the infield.

Nicolas (0-1) wasted a strange but effective outing by Phillips, the Padres' $2.2 million first-round draft pick from 2000. Phillips walked seven batters in five innings, but the left-hander allowed just one hit. He used his impressive arsenal to escape the jams he created. Four of his five strikeouts came with runners in scoring position.

"Those are the toughest guys to face, the ones who are effectively wild," Kata said. "They don't get ahead, everything's high, then they paint the 2-0 pitch. It's tough to get a good approach against that. A lot of guys got out by swinging at balls out of the zone."

But Nicolas relieved Phillips in the sixth and promptly walked the first two batters he faced. His slowest pitch hit 95 on the radar gun, but it didn't help that he couldn't find the plate. Jamie Sykes followed with a double that scored two runs, and then took third on an error. Corey Myers singled Sykes home to tie the game.

Nicolas (0-1) departed, having recorded just one out with two runners still on base. Kata drove them both home with a double. Nicolas allowed five runs in three hits and two walks in his Cal League debut.

Corey Myers' sixth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

"We took advantage of the walks and got some key hits when we needed it," JetHawks manager Scott Coolbaugh said. "It gave Slaten kind of a second life, and he did a tremendous job."

Uploaded August 17, 2001