By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - All of a sudden the Lancaster JetHawks have a pitcher piling up strikeouts, a catcher whom nobody can steal a base against and a six-game winning streak.
And thanks to Luis Molina's ninth-inning single, the JetHawks have first place all to themselves.
Molina's high-bouncing ground ball drove home the deciding run in a 4-3 win over the San Bernardino Stampede Tuesday night in front of a paid attendance of 3,776 at The Hangar.
The JetHawks (33-20) benefited from losses by Modesto and High Desert and are in first place by themselves in the California League's Valley Division.
Ironically, they rallied in the ninth despite two sacrifice attempts that weren't made.
After David Skeels led off with a single and was pinch-run for by Joel Ramirez, Tarrik Brock put down a nearly-perfect bunt down the first-base line.
But the ball trickled foul. Brock eventually walked, and Molina swung and missed the first pitch.
He bunted foul, took a pitch and then picked up the winning hit off Billy Neal (0-4).
"We didn't really get the bunts down but we got the big hit," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "With as few hits we got, to get the win was nice."
The JetHawks managed just five hits but got another good start by Jason Bond and a timely throw by catcher David Skeels with the game hanging in the balance.
Bond struck out nine and walked none in 6 2/3 innings. He didn't get the decision but upped his strikeout total to 23 in his last two starts.
"I can't really explain the strikeouts," said Bond, who leads the team with 102. "I'm just trying to go out there and get hitters out."
Staked to a 3-1 lead, Bond was knocked from the game in the seventh after the Stampede scored on Jack Jones' RBI single.
Bond had struck out Jones twice on the game with changeups.
"I probably went to the well one time too many," Bond said.
He was relieved by Denny Bonilla, who gave up an RBI single to Rolando Avila that tied the game at three.
Avila extended his hitting streak to 18 games earlier in the game, which is the longest streak in the league this season.
Then, with runners on first and second, Skeels threw out Mike Metcalfe, who's leading the league in stolen bases with 57, at third base.
Skeels is 7-for-7 in throwing out runners attempting to steal since Saturday.
"Pitching and defense, that's how the good teams win," Burleson said. "You can't win 10-8 every night. It's nice to have won two games in a row with less hits than the other team."
Bonilla (9-6) threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his third win in a row. Bonilla hasn't lost since July 3 against Modesto.