Visalia pitching a hit with JetHawks

Adonis Harrison went 4-for-5 with five RBI, leading Lancaster's offensive assault.

And this must be what they mean when they say you can only worry about yourself.

Other than finding the next base, the Lancaster JetHawks batters weren't worrying about much Friday night. Led by Adonis Harrison's 4-for-5, five-RBI night, the JetHawks strafed four Visalia pitchers for 15 hits in an 11-1 poleaxing of the Oaks in front of 3,243 bundled-up fans at The Hangar.

This is the Visalia team that started the evening with the same 29-25 record as the JetHawks. Being in the weak Freeway Division, however, has its perks. The Oaks lead the division by three games.

"We're playing better ball. Whether or not we can catch anyone in the first half or not, that may not happen," Lancaster manager Rick Burleson said.

And therein lies the rub. All the JetHawks accomplished by winning 11 of their last 13 games was to lose a half-game in the Valley Division standings to San Jose.

The Giants, who won 9 of 11, beat San Bernardino 3-1 on Friday.

"Those three against San Jose are probably the three most decisive games we have," said Harrison, describing the three-game series beginning Monday at San Jose.

In the meantime, Harrison was a decisive pain in the Oaks to a Visalia team carrying the best team ERA in the California League (3.26). His four hits included singles in the first and second innings, a sixth-inning double, and an eighth-inning, three-run homer.

"With two strikes, I'm just trying to put it in play," he said. "I was hoping it was outside so I can slap it the other way."

Instead, it was down-and-in and Harrison took it all the way over the right-center field wall for his second homer of the season.

That was the 15th and final hit on a night where eight of nine JetHawks collected hits. Eight of the hits came off Visalia starter Jared Jensen (0-4), who didn't get out of the third inning.

The JetHawks scored in four of the first six innings, taking a breather in the fourth and sixth. Of course, rest comes easy when you're leading 7-1 after four innings.

"I'm just more positive of the things I see, the little things," Burleson said. "The defense has come around quite a bit, and being able to execute when you put a runner on or get a hit-and-run or a two-out hit without men in scoring position. Those things are happening that didn't happen in April."

First inning: Brendan Kingman's sacrifice fly to short center sends home Marcus Sturdivant with the first run as Burleson has no qualms testing center fielder MIke Koemer's arm.

Second inning: Luis Tinoco reaches on an error, Anton French singles, Ramon Vazquez walks, and one out later, Harrison singles in Tinoco and French. Sturdivant singles home Vazquez.

There were plenty more where that came from in the third. Singles by Cirilo Cruz, the .372-hitting Brendan Kingman, Jason Regan and Tinoco opened the inning and chase Jensen.

Vazquez, the only JetHawk kept out of the hit parade, sent home Regan on a fielder's choice.

All this, meanwhile, sent Lindsay Gulin to his first Lancaster victory. Gulin allowed seven hits and one run in his five innings.

In Gulin's last start on May 23, he was torched for six hits and five runs in 2 1/3 innings by the Bakersfield Blaze.