JetHawks' big inning shakes up victory

Lancaster scored three runs in the seventh inning to collect its second straight win over Rancho Cucamonga

In the previous 13 games entering Monday's showdown with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at The Epicenter, the JetHawks had allowed three or more runs in an inning 14 times.

But having a big inning of their own factor into the outcome of the game? That's something new.

The JetHawks scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a tie and boost them to a 8-3 victory over the Quakes before a announced crowd of 3,134 on a pleasant evening in the Inland Empire.

"It was nice to finally have things work our way," JetHawks coach Darrin Garner said. "I was sitting there smiling to myself."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Lancaster and kept the JetHawks (12-20) from falling 10 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history. It also prevented the Quakes (15-16) from moving above .500 for the first time this season.

The JetHawks now try to win consecutive games for the first time since they claimed three straight April 9-12 with tonight's series finale against Rancho.

The pivotal inning for the JetHawks on Monday started innocently enough with Jermaine Clark drawing a one-out walk off Rancho Cucamonga reliever Jeremy Fikac (1-1). Clark stole second and ended up on third when catcher Wilbert Nieves' throw bounded into center field.

Luis Figueroa, who picked up three hits for the third consecutive game, brought Clark home with a single into right field. Greg Connors, who like Figueroa extended his hit streak to nine games, followed with another single.

Cirilo Cruz Jr. then bounced an RBI single up the middle to score Figueroa, before Rafael Lopez plated Connors with his ground ball.

"We finally got some breaks to go our way in that inning," Garner said. "They had been going the other way for so long, but they finally went for us."

Connors gave the JetHawks some breathing room in the top of the ninth when he crushed a tworun blast to left field for his teamleading fifth homer of the year. The catcher went 3-for-4 and had four RBI in the game.

Reliever Tim McClaskey (2-0) received the victory for the JetHawks after retiring eight of the 10 Quakes he faced.

Lancaster starter Neil Longo didn't pitch badly in his debut with the team after being promoted from Class A Wisconsin, but left before factoring into the decision.

"I gave my team a chance to win, which was the important thing," Longo said. "The next time I will be more settled down, and make better pitches."

The Quakes had a runner reach base in every inning against Longo except the fifth, as they collected nine hits and three earned runs against the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder who walked none and struck out four. Six of Rancho's nine hits off Longo were for extra bases, but he continually found ways to work his way out of jams.

The only time the Quakes touched him for a run in the first five innings was in the first, when Andy Wilson welcomed Longo to the California League with a leadoff triple into the right-field corner and scored one batter later on Brandon Pernell's single. That run erased a 1-0 Lancaster lead produced by Connors' sacrifice fly.

The JetHawks rebuilt the lead, adding a run by Harvey Hargrove in the second and a score from Clark in the third.

Longo made that lead stand until the sixth, when back-to-back doubles by Graham Koonce and Alex Paleaz brought the Quakes within one run, 3-2. After Longo got Scott Seal to bounce out, Wilbert Nieves belted Rancho Cucamonga's third double of the frame off the left-field wall to tie the game and end Longo's night.

The right-hander, who had three complete games in five starts with Wisconsin, threw 84 pitches, 57 of them for strikes Monday.

"He showed a lot of poise today," Lancaster pitching coach Greg Harris said. "That's what you'd like to see from these guys. He kept them from scoring and kept us in the game."

The Quakes' rally took their starter, Wascar Serrano, off the hook after he allowed three runs on eight hits, two walks and two wild pitches in his six innings of work.