JetHawks pass early second-half gut-check

Lancaster survived a Rancho Cucamonga rally to win their first game of the second half

Already with a loss in the first game of the second-half opening series to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Thursday, the JetHawks found themselves in a tense situation late in Friday's game.

Lancaster blew a five-run lead, then bounced back, scoring two runs in the eighth to put away the Quakes, 9-7, in front of 3,328 fans at The Hangar.

The JetHawks also survived a gut-check in the ninth when Aaron Scheffer struck out Marcus Sanchez with the bases loaded to close out the win.

"We just hung in there," said Lancaster's Adonis Harrison, who was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a double. "They kept getting close, but we didn't give in."

After Anton French led off the inning with a single, Cirilo Cruz followed with a single of his own to score French.

Marcus Sturdivant, running for Cruz, stole third and came home on a sacrifice fly by Jason Regan to make it 9-6.

The Quakes scored one more run in the top of the ninth on three straight hits, but it wasn't enough as Lancaster evened its secondhalf record at 1-1 (41-31 overall).

"(The JetHawks) did a good job of getting the lead up to 3," Lancaster manager Rick Burleson said. "But defensively, we gave them some opportunities. They had the winning run on base. We were fortunate to get out of it, really."

Once again, The Hangar proved that no lead is safe.

In a strange sixth inning, Rancho Cucamonga got right back in the game after the JetHawks led 7-2.

Lancaster starter Jason Bond started the game with five strong innings, allowing two runs on two hits. But in the sixth, he gave up two straight singles with one out before Gus Kennedy hit what looked like a two-run triple.

Brian Loyd and A.J. Johnson scored on Kennedy's triple. . . Or did they?

Apparently, after Loyd scored from second, A.J. Johnson missed third base while heading home. His miscue returned the score to 7-3.

With Kennedy on third, Burleson summoned Cam Smith from the bullpen. He didn't fare much better, giving up walk and a strike-out wild pitch that scored Kennedy and put Pete Paciorek and Chris Briones at second and first.

"I made a couple of bad pitches," Bond said. "They hit three straight in the sixth inning. I was hitting good spots, but the hitters did a good job waiting on the breaking stuff."

After a single by Josh Itzoe loaded the bases, first baseman Brendan Kingman bobbled a ball hit by Cesarin Carmona, allowing Paciorek and Briones to score. That trimmed the lead to 7-6, before Brian McClure struck out looking to end the threat.

After falling behind in the top of first on a leadoff home run by McClure, the JetHawks responded in the bottom of the inning.

Adonis Harrison drew a leadoff walk for the JetHawks. Rancho Cucamonga starting pitcher Widd Workman got two outs before the JetHawks got to Workman.

Lancaster got some help from McClure, the Quakes' second baseman. He couldn't handle a ball hit by Kingman and made a throwing error that allowed Harrison to score and keep the JetHawks' inning alive.

After Regan walked, Luis Tinoco hit an RBI single which scored Kingman. Jayson Bass then doubled to the gap to score Regan and Tinoco and put the JetHawks in control with a 4-1 lead.

"We hit the ball well," Harrison said. "But we always have to keep it up. Some days, the pitchers pick us up, sometimes we pick them up too."