Ayala finds groove in Lancaster's rout

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Even though Lancaster starter Julio Ayala went 2-1 in his first seven starts with the JetHawks, he still hadn't found his rhythm.

Four times in those starts, Ayala struck six or more batters - but that isn't his pitching style.

In Sunday's series finale against High Desert at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, Ayala finally pitched a game that was more to his liking - an 11-1 victory over the Mavericks before 3,331 fans on a sunny afternoon.

The left-hander only struck out four batters in eight innings of work, but he induced High Desert to ground out on 15 of the 24 outs he registered. In fact, only six of Ayala's 95 pitches made their way out of the infield, and three of those were quickly gobbled up by Lancaster outfielders for outs.

"I finally found my rhythm," Ayala said. "I'm not a power pitcher. I think what you saw (Sunday) is what you'll typically see out of me."

Ayala allowed only five hits and two walks.

The Mavericks' only run was an unusual one. Ayala struck out Rod Barajas for what should have been the third out of the inning. But the pitch, which was scored a wild pitch, got away from catcher Francisco Santiestaban. Barajas advanced to second on a balk and scored on Jarrod Patterson's single.

The only other time Ayala struggled was in the top of the first, when a walk, a single and an error on first baseman Cirilo Cruz loaded the bases with two outs. Ayala got out of the jam by getting Jhensey Sandoval to bounce out to Cruz.

"Everyone has a bad inning like that," Ayala said. "What's important is how you can work your way out of it. My job is just to keep it close and let the offense take care of the rest."

Doing the job

That's exactly what the Lancaster offense did Sunday - thanks to some clutch two-out hits. Eight of Lancaster's 11 runs crossed the plate with two outs in the inning.

"We got a lot of two-out hits (Sunday)," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "(Friday) we couldn't get a guy in from third with no outs (in the 10th inning). Now we're getting them in with two outs."

That trend started early for the JetHawks Sunday, when Brendan Kingman doubled in Ramon Vazquez with two outs and Luis Tinoco scored Kingman with a double.

In the second inning, Vazquez picked up a two-out single to score Anton French from second base.

The score stayed 3-0 until the top of the sixth, when High Desert scored its only run of the game. But Lancaster answered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame on French's home run to right field - the only runs Lancaster scored Sunday with less than two outs. The home run was French's second of the season and made the score 6-1.

That lead doubled in the seventh, when Lancaster tacked on five runs all after High Desert had recorded two outs. The inning was highlighted by Jayson Bass' three-run blast - his second home run of the season.

"I think we've been doing a pretty good job of hitting with two outs and runners on base all season," Bass said.

Pay back

After losing seven straight to High Desert at the end of last season, including three straight in the Valley Division playoffs, Lancaster seems to have found the Mavericks' number.

The JetHawks lost two of three in an early-season series, but have won five of seven from High Desert in the last week and a half.

Making that feat even more impressive is the fact that Lancaster won all four games started by top prospects Brad Penny and John Patterson.

"We've beat two of the best pitchers we've seen all season," Burleson said. "Then we see guys like (Lake Elsinore's Brian) Tokarse and (High Desert's Stephen) Randolph who have higher ERAs, and twice they shut us down. I don't know if our guys bare down more against the better pitchers or what."