Poor pitching allows Quakes to grab opener

Rancho Cucamonga hitters rocked Lancaster pitchers Greg Wooten and Kyle Kennison in the first game of the second half

After winning eight of their last 10 games to end the first half, the JetHawks started the second half with a 13-5 loss to Rancho Cucamonga in front of 3,571 fans at The Hangar.

"We haven't played well in four games," Lancaster manager Rick Burleson said. "It's jetlag or something."

The Quakes jumped all over starting pitcher Greg Wooten in the first inning.

Brian McClure led off with a double that landed in the manual scoreboard. Robbie Kent followed with a single off Wooten's left foot which plated McClure.

Brian Loyd followed that with a ground-rule double that bounced over the center-field wall. Before Lancaster could record an out, A.J. Johnson added a homer to push Rancho's lead to 4-0.

A quick visit by JetHawks pitching coach Jim Slaton worked wonders for Wooten. The right-hander settled down and retired the next three batters to end the first. In fact, Wooten retired eight in a row before trouble returned in the third inning.

"It's hard to fall behind so fast," Burleson said. "We came back in the game, but once we got back on the field, (the Quakes) pounded the ball a little more."

With two outs in the third, Johnson walked and then stole second base. Gus Kennedy followed with a two-run homer to put the Quakes ahead 6-2.

Wooten's troubles didn't stop there. In the fourth inning, Scott Seal, Cesarin Carmona and McClure hit consecutive singles to load the bases.

After Wooten struck out Kent, he walked in Seal. Kyle Kennison replaced Wooten and walked the first batter he faced, plating Johnson.

The JetHawks got out of the inning when Kennedy hit a comebacker to Kennison. The pitcher threw home to catcher Karl Thompson for one out and Thompson threw to first base to complete the 1-2-3 double play.

In 3 1/3 innings, Wooten allowed eight runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out two.

"I haven't seen him pitch too many times," Burleson said. "But he had trouble with location. It doesn't matter what league you are in, if you don't get ahead, you aren't going to be successful."

In relief, Kennison didn't fare much better. He gave up five runs and five hits. Kevin Gryboski, the team's third pitcher, looked strong. He gave up just one hit in 2 2/3 innings and retired eight straight batters during one stretch.

Rancho Cucamonga's Jason Middlebrook picked up the win with five mediocre innings of work on the mound. He allowed three runs and five hits to improve to 4-7 on the season.

The JetHawks took advantage of the struggling Middlebrook in the bottom of the first. After Adonis Harrison led off with a single and stole second base, Ramon Vazquez reached on an error when Rancho Cucamonga second baseman Brian McClure couldn't get the ball out of his glove. Harrison advanced to third on the error.

Cirilo Cruz Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Harrison. Brendan Kingman then hit a ground-rule double to score McClure and cut the lead to 4-2.

Offensively, the JetHawks put up strong numbers. Lancaster had 16 hits, led by Luis Tinoco who went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

"We finished with a good first half," Tinoco said. "We just have to keep our minds on our jobs. (The Quakes) got us today, but we'll get it back tomorrow."