By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - He will talk about most everything. But baseball does not fall into the category in which he comments.
Carlos Villalobos' bat did the talking in the extra innings Thursday night.
He drove in the tying run in the 10th with a single and he hit the game-winning home run to lead off the bottom of the 12th to give the Lancaster JetHawks an 8-7 win over the Visalia Oaks in front of what was left of a paid attendance of 4,843 at The Hangar.
Villalobos had no comment after he slammed Oaks reliever Chris Morrison's first pitch over the left field wall.
The ball sailing over the fence was a pretty sight to JetHawks manager Rick Burleson, who wasn't looking forward to having to use reliever Rafael Rivera after Rivera threw four innings on Monday.
"It was a great feeling," he said. "You play that long, you want to win the game really bad. It almost felt like it was going to slip away."
The JetHawks forced a 6-6 tie in the fifth and then had to battle back from a 7-6 deficit in the 10th.
Although he gave up that goahead run, Denny Bonilla (4-3) held the Oaks scoreless in the next two innings to pick up the victory.
Bonilla combined with Aaron Scheffer for 7 2/3 innings of solid relief. Scheffer was charged with one run and struck out five in five innings.
Scheffer was particularly impressive in the fifth, when he got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with no runs scoring. The Oaks had already taken a 6-5 lead against Lancaster starter Eric Morgan and were threatening to get more when Scheffer came in.
But Scheffer caught a break when he threw a pitch in the dirt that got away from Dusty Wathan and Ramon Hernandez tried to score from third. Wathan's throw to Scheffer easily beat Hernandez.
"(Scheffer) is a hot pitcher for us," Burleson said.
The JetHawks had a golden opportunity to take the lead with the score tied 6-6 in the sixth.
They loaded the bases with one out and James Clifford, who had drilled a three-run homer in the first, came to the plate. But Clifford hit a line drive to first baseman Dave Slemmer, who stepped on the bag ahead of Miguel Correa for a crucial double play.
"We had so many chances to win the game," Burleson said. "Every time we get a little bit down, somebody steps up."
That somebody was Villalobos, who has hit three homers in the past 13 days.
"Villa's homer was a `no-doubter' when he hit it," Burleson said. "That was a big win for us. To be swept at home, I think would have been a real downer for us to go on the road."