By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - Stanton Cameron has been a professional baseball player for 10 years. He's bounced around the country and hit well at every level.
Heck, High Desert's 27-year-old right fielder probably saw more pitches in his career than half the players in the major leagues.
The only player older than Cameron on the Mavericks' roster is Mark Davis, a 36-year-old lefthander with 14 years of experience in the majors.
Cameron and Davis were a formidable team Wednesday night at The Hangar, hitting and pitching the Mavericks past the Lancaster JetHawks, 5-4, in front of a paid attendance of 3,252.
Cameron belted a two-run homer in the eighth that gave the Mavericks (36-30) a 4-3 lead. It was his 15th of the season and 131st of his minor league career.
After the JetHawks tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on Miguel Correa's long homer to right field off Davis, the Mavericks took a one-run lead in the ninth.
Davis (2-1) reverted back to the form that won him the 1989 Cy Young Award, shutting out the JetHawks (32-34) in the ninth. He whiffed Joel Ramirez to end the game with the potential tying run on first.
"I was confident," said Ramirez, shrugging off Davis' major league experience. "I didn't have any fear. I don't really look at who is pitching, I just try to do my job."
The late-inning loss, which was Lancaster's third in a row by one run, spoiled a strong start by Damaso Marte.
Marte showed a bit more character in this start than in his previous two, a lackluster loss at Lake Elsinore and a so-so no-decision at Stockton.
The left-hander gave up three hits and struck out seven in seven innings. He left with a 3-2 lead.
"He made some pitches when he had to," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "He didn't give in, he didn't give up."
Though neither figured in the decision, Marte and High Desert's Vladimir Nunez held down the California League's two best offensive teams for seven innings.
Nunez gave up two unearned runs in the first and only allowed one run after that, when Carlos Villalobos tripled and scored on Miguel Correa's groundout in the sixth.
It was the second consecutive game in which the JetHawks took an early lead but could not exploit it as the game wore on. They managed only seven hits against three Mavericks pitchers.
"It just seems like the other teams are more hungry," Burleson said.
The JetHawks were eliminated from any chance of winning the Valley Division with the loss, even though first-place Stockton lost again to Modesto, 5-0. The Ports' lead was cut to just 1 1/2 games over the Mavericks.