Gambling lessons

One pays off, other doesn't in 4-3 loss

Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of Wednesday's 4-3 14-inning loss to High Desert, Lancaster manager Rick Burleson decided to gamble.

Adonis Harrison smacked a one-out single to center field which landed just in front of a charging Juan Garcia. The ball skipped under Garcia's glove and rolled to the wall.

Harrison, one of the faster JetHawks, raced around the bases and received the go sign from Burleson at third base.

Garcia, however, grabbed the ball on the warning track and fired toward the infield. An outstanding relay throw from second baseman Junior Spivey gave catcher Rod Barajas time to apply the tag. The 5-foot-9 Harrison couldn't jar the ball loose in a collision at home plate and was called out.

Gamble lost.

If Harrison had stayed at third, he probably would have scored one batter later on Ramon Vazquez's double to left.

Fortunately for Burleson and the JetHawks, baseball often gives you another chance.

Two innings later, with Lancaster trailing by one run, 3-2, Harrison reached base when High Desert left fielder Bert Hudson had the wind blow a fly ball away from him. Harrison stopped at second on the two-out hit.

Vazquez followed with a ground ball toward second base, but Spivey's throw to first for the third out of the inning was wide and bounced off the glove of Kevin Clark. As Clark chased the slowrolling ball, Burleson once again sent Harrison from third.

This time, Harrison slid underneath the catcher's tag and tied the game 3-3, much to the delight of a Karaoke Night crowd of 2,428 at The Hangar.

That gamble sent the game to extra innings, where both teams were scoreless until the 14th inning.

The Mavericks finally broke through when Garcia and Spivey led off the 14th with back-to-back singles. Garcia scored the gamewinning run on Clark's sacrifice fly to right.

The JetHawks drew first blood for the sixth time in the sevengame homestand when Luis Tinoco belted a solo home run over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the first inning. The homer was Lancaster's first in 191 at-bats in 1998.

That was the only run High Desert starter John Patterson allowed through five innings. With the exception of Tinoco's home run and Vasquez's fourth-inning double to left-center, Patterson shut down the JetHawks. He struck out nine and walked one.

The Mavericks tied the game at 1 in the top of the third. Spivey reached on a two-out infield single and proceeded to steal second base. He scored one batter later on Clark's single up the middle.

The Mavericks took the lead in the top of the sixth when Clark drew a leadoff walk and Kevin Sweeney chased Lancaster starter Jason Bond with a two-run homer to right field. The home run, High Desert's fourth in two nights, gave the Mavericks a 3-1 lead.

Vazquez trimmed the lead to one after his sixth-inning double, his second of the night. Tinoco, who went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, knocked him in with a single.