By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO - As the blackness enveloped San Bernardino Stadium, the Lancaster JetHawks' frustration at the plate became a reality.
The JetHawks were in the dark.
That's the way it seemed as they flailed away at knuckleballer Kevin Pincavitch's fluttering pitches in a 5-4 loss to San Bernardino Saturday night in front of a paid attendance of 3,494.
"The thing is like a piranha, it's got bite," is how Lancaster's Joe Mathis described Pincavitch's knuckler.
It was Mathis who was at the plate in the seventh when a malfunction caused the stadium lights to go out.
After a 22-minute delay, JetHawks manager Rick Burleson resorted to a little trickery that backfired.
Mike Martin was on first when the lights went out, so Burleson figured a steal attempt wouldn't be such a bad idea after catcher Angel Pena had sat on the bench for nearly a half-hour.
Unfortunately for Martin, he didn't get a good jump off Stampede reliever John Davis and was thrown out easily to end the halfinning.
"Once (Davis) threw over and almost picked him off, (Martin) should have realized that it wasn't going to be a surprise," Burleson said.
What was surprising was the JetHawks' chance in the ninth to take a lead against ace closer Jeff Kubenka after getting just three hits in the first eight innings.
Carlos Villalobos and Dusty Wathan both singled, and with two outs, pinch-hitter Joel Ramirez hit a drive that looked like it might reach the gap in left-center field.
But left fielder Tony Mota grabbed the fly ball and Kubenka had his 10th save.
The JetHawks scored twice in the sixth to cut into what was a comfortable 5-2 lead for the Stampede.
Mathis doubled off Pincavitch to lead off the inning, and he eventually went to third on a passed ball.
After an out, Pincavitch walked Miguel Correa. Mathis scored and Correa went to third when first baseman Kevin Faircloth misplayed a pickoff throw from Pincavitch.
The rally got uglier for the Stampede when, with two outs, Correa scored when third baseman Todd Barlok threw wildly to first on a grounder hit by Villalobos.
Up to that point, the Stampede had done a lot right at the plate to take the lead.
Mike Metcalfe was a thorn in the side of Lancaster starter Damaso Marte (0-1) in the first two innings.
First, Metcalfe doubled down the left field line - on a pitch in which he was jammed - to lead off the bottom of the first. He stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Murph Proctor.
In the second, Metcalfe drove home Todd Barlok with a two-out single into left, then stole second and scored on Mota's two-run single that made it 4-0.
The JetHawks cut the lead in half in the third with a rally that featured only two balls hit out of the infield.
Pincavitch (3-3) walked Martin with one out, and Martin advanced to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. He scored on Luis Molina's ground out.
Mathis doubled over Mota's head in left field with two outs and went to third on Pena's second passed ball of the inning.
He scored on an infield single by Chris Dean to make it 4-2.
After giving up just one earned run in six innings last week at Visalia, Marte gave up eight hits and five runs in five innings. He struck out six and walked two.