JetHawks end curse against Tokarse

Lancaster finally found an answer for Lake Elsinore pitcher Brian Tokarse as it teed off for four runs in the first inning en route to victory

LAKE ELSINORE - For three games, Lake Elsinore's Brian Tokarse had the Lancaster JetHawks' number.

In his three starts against the JetHawks entering Tuesday, Tokarse had allowed only five earned runs in 25 1/3 innings and won all three games. He even threw a complete game during a doubleheader May 13 at The Hangar.

Against the rest of the league, Tokarse had gone 4-6 with a 5.61 ERA. But for some reason, the JetHawks seemed to be cursed against him.

That curse appears to be over.

The JetHawks made sure of that by getting to the Storm righthander early in their 10-3 victory before 2,734 fans at The Diamond on Tuesday night.

"We reminded them of what he had done to us in the past," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "But I don't think we needed to. They remembered."

With the win, Lancaster (44-32) equaled the best mark in franchise history by moving 12 games over .500. Lancaster last stood at this point on Aug. 18, 1997, after beating Stockton.

Unlike in their three previous games against Tokarse, the JetHawks didn't help him out by swinging at pitches in the dirt.

"He's a good sinkerball pitcher," Burleson said. "If you help him out, he becomes real tough to hit. We told the guys to lay off a little and force him to pitch up. . . We wanted to make him throw between the middle of the thighs and the belt."

The JetHawks scored all four runs they would need for the victory in the first inning by displaying the necessary patience, drawing three walks off Tokarse to load the bases.

Jayson Bass cleared the bases with a triple into the right-field corner. Bass also scored in the frame on Luis Tinoco's single into left-center field.

"We knew who we were facing," Bass said. "We just had to rattle some bats. . . We had to work him up in the strike zone, and then we got some good pitches to hit."

Lancaster added four more earned runs off Tokarse in the next 2 1/3 innings to take an 8-1 lead. Tokarse left with one out in the fourth after he allowed seven hits and four walks.

While the Storm's starter didn't seem to be himself, Lancaster starter Greg Wooten, who entered the game 0-1 with a 12.27 ERA in two games since joining the club, also appeared to be a different pitcher than he was in his previous two starts this season.

"Since this was my third start, I definitely think it was my best," Wooten said. "I was pretty happy with my performance."

Wooten retired the first eight Lake Elsinore batters he faced. Shortstop Nelson Castro finally broke Wooten's spell over the Storm with two outs in the third when he rocketed a home run over the left-field fence.

But that was the only run Wooten would allow until Nathan Murphy scored Jeff Guiel in the bottom of the seventh. By that time, the Lancaster offense already had given him a nine-run cushion.

The Lancaster right-hander had excellent control of his pitches, as 61 of his 86 trips to the plate were for strikes, and maintained his velocity in the upper 80s. Wooten (1-1) allowed only the two earned runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out six Storm batters in seven innings.

"Wooten was far different from the pitcher we saw the first two times this season," Burleson said.

Aaron Scheffer closed the game by allowing one run on one hit in the final two innings. He struck out four of the seven batters he faced.